Sam Raudins reports for the Albany Business Review that the State University of New York Board of Trustees on Dec. 5 named John B. King Jr. as the new chancellor of its higher education system. His appointment is effective January 17. Deborah F. Stanley, former president of SUNY Oswego, has served as interim chancellor since January. King served as the U.S. Secretary of Education under President Barack Obama from 2016 to 2017, and as the New York State Education Commissioner from 2011 to 2014. In 2017, King became the president and CEO of The Education Trust, a nonprofit that looks to identify and close achievement gaps for students. He was a candidate for Maryland governor, but finished in sixth place in the April 2021 Democratic primary. King holds an undergraduate degree in government from Harvard a masters and doctorate from Teachers College at Columbia University, and a law degree from Yale. He started his career as a high school social studies teacher. "I'm only sitting here today because of the difference public education made in my life. My parents, who were both New York City public school educators for their whole careers, both passed away when I was a kid...," he said Monday. "It was unstable, lonely, scary a lot of the time. But school — public school, New York City public schools — quite literally saved my life. Amazing New York City public school teachers made school a place that was safe and nurturing and engaging. ..." SUNY has been without a permanent chancellor since Jim Malatras resigned earlier this year after 2019 text messages were made public in which he made disparaging remarks against former government colleague Lindsey Boylan, the first woman to publicly accuse former Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment. King will be paid an annual salary of $750,000. Read more in the Hudson Business Review.