University of California’s New President, James Milliken, Will Come From Texas

U.S.|University of California’s New President Will Come From Texas

The University of California system announced on Friday that its new president would be James B. Milliken, a longtime public university leader who currently serves at the University of Texas system and previously ran the City University of New York and the University of Nebraska.

At a fraught time in higher education, Mr. Milliken, 68, is regarded as an experienced and relatively safe choice to lead the nation’s most prestigious public university system.

Mr. Milliken, known as JB, will take over the system of nearly 300,000 students at a time when the Trump administration is targeting the nation’s elite universities — and has the U.C. system in its cross hairs. All 10 University of California campuses are under investigation by the administration for various reasons, including admissions practices and allegations of antisemitism.

So far, the California system has escaped some of the deep federal funding cuts the White House has announced that it was imposing at other universities. The system does, however, face a proposed cut of about 8 percent in its share of the state budget, as California seeks to manage a projected long-term deficit.

In announcing Mr. Milliken’s selection, the University of California Board of Regents said that the new president “understands how critical U.C.’s contributions are to the state and the country, and he has decades of experience leading public institutions during times of unprecedented change in higher education.”

Highlighting Mr. Milliken’s commitment to low-income students, the regents referred to his stewardship of the City University of New York system, where he served from 2014 to 2018.