James B. (“JB”) Milliken is chancellor of The University of Texas System, where he also holds the Lee Hage and Joseph D. Jamail Regents Chair in Higher Education Leadership.   

Milliken is a national leader in public higher education with more than 30 years of experience. As chancellor, he oversees one of the largest public university systems in the United States, comprised of 14 academic and health institutions, including seven medical schools and five Carnegie R1 research universities. UT institutions enroll more than 256,000 students and employ more than 122,000 faculty, healthcare professionals, researchers, support staff, and student workers. Total annual research expenditures across the UT institutions exceeds $4.3 billion, and the UT System ranks No. 1 in Texas and No. 2 in the nation in federal research expenditures among public higher education systems.

At UT, Milliken has led efforts to meet the needs of a growing and diversifying state and nation, including a commitment to growing training, education, and research programs in information technology, cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, public health, and medicine.  

As a sought-after voice in public higher education leadership, he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Council on Foreign Relations. Milliken serves on boards of directors of the Permian Strategic Partnership, the American Council on Education, the University of Texas Investment Management Company, and the Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute. He also serves on Governor Abbott’s Texas Economic Development Corporation's CEO Council.
 
Before joining the UT System, Milliken served as the chancellor of The City University of New York (CUNY), the largest urban university system in the country, president of the University of Nebraska, and senior vice president of the University of North Carolina. Prior to his higher education career, he practiced law on Wall Street.