J. Miner, 81; Led Outward Bound USA

Joshua L. Miner, an innovative educator who introduced Outward Bound to the United States in 1961 and continued to be the guiding light for the confidence-building wilderness education program over the last four decades, has died. He was 81.

Miner, former dean of admissions at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., died of prostate cancer Tuesday at his home in Andover.

“My dad was an educator who loved the outdoors and was interested in experiential education,” said Miner’s son, Dan Miner.

“He often said that if you can find a mission or a passion in your life, you’re very lucky. And that’s what Outward Bound was for him.”

Miner was introduced to Outward Bound in 1950 while teaching at the Gordonstoun School in Scotland, where he met Outward Bound’s founder, Kurt Hahn, an Oxford-educated German.

Hahn had developed the adventure-based experiential education program during World War II at the request of a British shipping line owner, who felt the line’s young sailors needed training to be able to endure the hardships of spending days on a life raft in the event their ships were sunk by German submarines.

Miner, who joined students in Scotland on their confidence-building expeditions, took Hahn’s concepts home with him and initiated an innovative physical education program based on Hahn’s principles at Phillips Academy in 1952.

In 1961, he started Outward Bound USA in Colorado, near Marble, with 80 students. Miner served as director.

Today, Outward Bound USA has five wilderness schools--in Portland, Ore., Ely, Minn., Asheville, N.C., Rockland, Maine, and Denver--and urban centers in New York and Boston. Together they draw nearly 40,000 students a year.

Whether they’re sailing, mountain climbing, desert backpacking, white-water rafting, dog sledding or sea kayaking, the goal is the same.

“Outward Bound courses are about discovery, and you can discover a lot about yourself in the wilderness,” said Stocky Clark, chief operating officer of the Garrison, N.Y.-headquartered nonprofit organization.

“Through taking people out of their comfort zone, putting them with a group they’ve never met before and going through all aspects of an expedition--from cooking meals to navigating mountains and oceans--they learn teamwork, leadership, character development and compassion for each other.”

Miner stayed involved with Outward Bound until the end, Clark said.

“He is our inspiration,” Clark said. “There wasn’t a board meeting in which Josh didn’t say something very significant. He had a great deal of wisdom and a tremendous belief in youth and people and the principles of Outward Bound--the focus on service, compassion and character development.”

Born in Plainfield, N.J., Miner attended Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and graduated from Princeton University in 1943.

During World War II, he served as a captain in the 696th Armored Field Artillery Battalion with Gen. George S. Patton’s 3rd Army in Europe. He received a Bronze Star with five combat stars, a Purple Heart and the Croix de Guerre.

After the war, Miner was assistant headmaster and a physics and math instructor at the Hun School, a small boys boarding school in Princeton, N.J.

During his two years at the Gordonstoun School in Scotland, he taught math and served as director of athletics under Hahn’s guidance.

At Phillips Academy from 1952 to 1964, he served as a physics instructor, housemaster and P.E. coach.

As founding trustee and chairman of Outward Bound USA, Miner spent the first eight years building the organization.

In 1972, he returned to Phillips Academy and served as dean of admissions until retiring in 1985.

After retiring, he served as an education consultant. Until about 10 years ago, he would take business executives on short Outward Bound trips down the Green River in Utah in summer.

Miner was co-author of “Outward Bound USA” (William Morrow; 1981).

In addition to son Dan, of Durham, N.H., Miner is survived by his wife of 54 years, Phebe; daughters, Phebe M. Richards of Costa Rica and Louise M. Miner of Minneapolis; sons, Joshua L. IV of Boxford, Mass., and John of Seattle; two brothers, Frank of Denver and Tom of Sarasota, Fla.; and 12 grandchildren.

Donations may be made to the Joshua L. Miner III Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Outward Bound USA, 100 Mystery Point Road, Garrison, NY 10542.