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Veteran administrator Milliken sole finalist for UT System chancellor

Austin American-Statesman - 8/5/2018

Aug. 04--University of Texas System regents voted Saturday to name James B. Milliken, former chancellor of the City University of New York and former president of the University of Nebraska, as the sole finalist for chancellor of the 14-campus system.

The unanimous vote by the Board of Regents, with Regent Rad Weaver absent, came at a special meeting behind closed doors in Austin at which the regents interviewed a few candidates to be the CEO of the state's largest university system. The regents are all but certain to firm up Milliken's appointment after a 21-day waiting period required by state law. His compensation and start date have yet to be determined.

"His experiences in higher education leadership are deep and broad, and he has very effectively guided university systems that have many of the characteristics and strategic aspirations embedded throughout UT's academic and health institutions," board Chairwoman Sara Martinez Tucker said in a statement. "Moreover, he has enjoyed strong support from elected officials, students, and campus leaders in his previous posts, all of whom described him as someone they could count on in times of great opportunity and challenges."

Milliken, 61, said in a statement, "I am honored to be the finalist for the position of chancellor of this remarkable institution, and I would welcome the opportunity to play a lead role in advancing this system of outstanding universities in the 21st century."

Former UT-Austin President Larry Faulkner has been serving as interim chancellor since the end of May, when Bill McRaven stepped down, citing health problems -- a type of blood cancer and severe anemia -- as well as a desire to teach, write and pursue other interests.

Unlike McRaven, a retired four-star admiral and Navy SEAL who had no experience in higher education administration before taking the job, Milliken, who goes by J.B., is a 30-year veteran in the field. He became chancellor of the City University of New York, known as CUNY, in 2014 after 10 years as president of the University of Nebraska, his undergraduate alma mater. Earlier, he was senior vice president of the 16-campus University of North Carolina System.

Like McRaven, Milliken has battled cancer. He announced in November that he would resign as CUNY's chancellor at the end of the academic year, citing the "extraordinarily challenging" months of radiation and chemotherapy following a diagnosis of throat cancer days after his 60th birthday.

"Some additional health challenges have followed and will require my attention in the months ahead, but thankfully my prognosis remains very good," he said in a statement at the time. "I expect to be active and working for many more years, but there is no denying that the last nine months have been draining physically and emotionally. The experience has given me an even deeper commitment to enjoying fully my work, my family and friends, and my life."

UT System spokeswoman Randa Safady said Milliken shared a statement with the regents from his physicians at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, declaring that he was free of cancer as of the summer of 2017. Other unrelated issues have been addressed and he no longer has any health problems, she said.

CUNY is a full-service public institution, with seven community colleges, 11 four-year schools and six graduate, honors and professional schools. It has 274,000 degree-credit students and is overseen by a 17-member Board of Trustees appointed by New York's governor and New York City's mayor.

For Milliken, who earned a law degree at New York University, the CUNY position was something of a homecoming. Under his watch, CUNY opened and expanded various academic programs, boosted community college graduation rates and propelled a growing number of low-income students into the middle class, according to the university's website.

The UT System likewise is one of the largest public university enterprises in the nation, with more than 235,000 students, 20,000 faculty members and an operating budget of $18.3 billion. As such, it comes under considerable scrutiny, not least by the Legislature.

McRaven brought star power to the chancellorship as a bona fide national hero, having planned the raid in which Osama bin Laden was killed. His final job in his 37 years with the military was commanding all Special Operations forces.

He led the UT System boldly -- for example, by establishing a rule requiring that a female or minority candidate be interviewed for every high-level position at the system's various university and medical campuses. The requirement is modeled after the National Football League's "Rooney Rule," which mandates that a minority head coaching candidate be interviewed before a final hiring decision.

But McRaven stumbled in dealing with the Legislature, notably when the system spent more than $200 million to acquire about 300 acres in Houston for what would have been a data science center. McRaven dropped that plan amid opposition from some state lawmakers and even a few regents.

Chairwoman Tucker has cited the importance of getting a new chancellor on board as soon as possible to prepare for the legislative session, which begins in January. Perhaps to help facilitate that, Faulkner has announced that the system's longtime vice chancellor for governmental relations, Barry McBee, would shift to the chancellor's office, essentially as chief of staff.

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