John King Jr.

John King
King in 2016
15th Chancellor of the State University of New York System
Assumed office
January 9, 2023
Preceded byDeborah F. Stanley (interim)
10th United States Secretary of Education
In office
January 1, 2016 – January 20, 2017
Acting: January 1, 2016 – March 14, 2016
PresidentBarack Obama
DeputyJames Cole Jr. (acting)
Preceded byArne Duncan
Succeeded byBetsy DeVos
United States Deputy Secretary of Education
In office
January 4, 2015 – January 1, 2016
Acting
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byJim Shelton
Succeeded byJames Cole Jr. (acting)
Education Commissioner of New York
In office
June 15, 2011 – January 4, 2015
GovernorAndrew Cuomo
Preceded byDavid Steiner
Succeeded byMaryEllen Elia
Personal details
Born (1975-01-05) January 5, 1975
PartyDemocratic
SpouseMelissa Steel
Children2
EducationHarvard University (BA)
Columbia University (MEd, EdD)
Yale University (JD)

John B. King Jr. (born January 5, 1975) is an American academic administrator, currently serving as the 15th chancellor of the State University of New York since January 2023.

He previously served as President & CEO 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. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 10th United States Secretary of Education from January 1, 2016 to January 20, 2017, under President Barack Obama. In April 2021, King announced that he would be running for the Democratic nomination in the 2022 Maryland gubernatorial election, but came in sixth place in the primary election, losing to Baltimore author Wes Moore.

Immediately before he assumed leadership of the United States Department of Education, King served as its Acting Deputy Secretary from 2015 until 2016. He previously was the New York State Education Commissioner from 2011 to 2014. King's predecessor as U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, was charged with implementing the No Child Left Behind Act; however, King was obliged to carry out the provisions of that law's modified successor legislation, the Every Student Succeeds Act.

On December 5, 2022, King was appointed Chancellor of the State University of New York, succeeding interim chancellor Deborah F. Stanley and becoming its second Black chancellor, with Clifton R. Wharton Jr. being the first, and first Puerto Rican chancellor. He took office on January 9, 2023.