John B. King, Jr. is the 15th Chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY), the largest comprehensive system of public higher education in the United States. 

Prior to his appointment as Chancellor, King served as president of The Education Trust, a national civil rights nonprofit which seeks to identify and close opportunity and achievement gaps for students from preschool through college. 

Chancellor King also served in President Barack Obama’s cabinet as the 10th U.S. Secretary of Education. Upon tapping him to lead the U.S. Department of Education, President Obama called King “an exceptionally talented educator,” citing his commitment to “preparing every child for success,” and his lifelong dedication to public education as a teacher, principal, and leader of schools and school systems.

Before his appointment as Secretary of Education, Chancellor King fulfilled the duties of Deputy Secretary of Education, overseeing all policies and programs related to P-12 education, English learners, special education, and innovation.

His service in Washington, D.C. followed King’s tenure as New York State’s first African American and first Puerto Rican Education Commissioner, a role in which he oversaw all elementary and secondary schools, as well as public, independent, and proprietary colleges and universities, professional licensure, libraries, museums, and numerous other educational institutions.

Chancellor King holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Harvard University, a J.D. from Yale Law School, as well as both a Master of Arts in the Teaching of Social Studies and a Doctorate in Education from Teachers College at Columbia University.