James B. Milliken
Distinguished higher education leader James B. Milliken became University of California’s 22nd president on August 1, 2025.
President Milliken oversees UC’s world-renowned system of 10 campuses, six academic health centers, three affiliated national laboratories, more than 290,000 students and 230,000 faculty and staff.
President Milliken has more than 30 years of experience serving in leadership roles at large institutions. Most recently, he served as chancellor of the University of Texas System (UT) from 2018-2025, where he also held the Lee Hage and Joseph D. Jamail Regents Chair in Higher Education Leadership.
As UT’s chancellor, he led one of the largest public university systems in the United States, composed of 14 academic and health institutions, including seven medical schools and five Carnegie R1 research universities. He led efforts to meet the needs of a growing and diversifying state and nation, including a commitment to increasing training, education, and research programs in information technology, cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, public health, and medicine.
Before joining the UT System, Milliken served as chancellor of the City University of New York (CUNY), the largest urban university system in the country, where he was a tenured Distinguished Professor of Law, Public Policy, and Education. Prior to CUNY, he served as president of the University of Nebraska, where he was a tenured professor in the schools of law and of public policy. He also served as senior vice president of the 16-campus University of North Carolina. Prior to his higher education career, President Milliken practiced law.
During his career in public higher education, Milliken has received many awards and recognitions, including honorary degrees, the President’s Award from One Hundred Black Men of New York, the Cather Medal from the University of Nebraska, the Nebraskan of the Year award, the CUNY Dreamers Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the City & State New York.
President Milliken is a sought-after voice in public higher education leadership. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He serves on the boards of directors of the American Council on Education and the Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute. He previously served on the board of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), the Business-Higher Education Forum, and the Council on Competitiveness.
President Milliken earned a law degree at New York University in 1983, where he was a Root-Tilden Scholar and research assistant to professor Norman Dorsen, then president of the ACLU.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in English with distinction, with minors in economics and history, at the University of Nebraska, graduating Phi Beta Kappa.
Contact
Please direct general inquiries for President Milliken to president@ucop.edu.
Media inquiries: media@ucop.edu
Invitations: president-invite@ucop.edu
Phone
(510) 987-9200
Mailing address
Office of the President, University of California
1111 Franklin Street, 12th Floor, Oakland, CA 94607
Please note that correspondence may be read or answered by members of the President’s staff or appropriate campus personnel. The President’s Office retains copies of all correspondence, and all correspondence is considered a matter of public record.