Robert King has extensive experience in higher education management. In 2000, he was selected to serve as Chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY), a sixty-four campus, public university and community college system serving. In 2009, King was appointed the President of the Kentucky Council for Postsecondary Education, serving eight public universities, sixteen community and technical colleges, and twenty private and independent institutions. In 2018, he was nominated by the President and confirmed by a bi-partisan vote of the U.S. Senate to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education in the U.S. Department of Education. 

Mr. King served three terms in the NY State Assembly, one term as Monroe County Executive (Rochester, NY), and as New York State Director of the Division of the Budget. Since serving as Chancellor of the SUNY System, King served as Interim President at SUNY Potsdam, and as President of the Arizona Community Foundation, responsible for the management of a $500M endowment supporting education, research, healthcare and the Arts across Arizona. Mr. King’s early career was spent as a prosecutor in both California and New York. 

Mr. King has served on the Boards of Trustees of Prescott College, a private, experiential learning liberal arts institution, and A.T. Still University, a private medical school training Doctors of Osteopathy, Dentists and other healthcare professionals. In addition, King served on the Board of Directors of the National Center on Education and the Economy, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of Governing Boards. 

Mr. King earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree (1968) from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and his Juris Doctor degree (1971) from the Vanderbilt University School of Law.