CuNY chief: I’m leaving
CUNY CHANCELLOR James Milliken is leaving the job in June, he said Tuesday.
Milliken’s decision to resign from running the nation’s largest public urban university system comes eight months after he announced he was diagnosed with throat cancer.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily News, Milliken said his health outlook is good, but illness has changed his priorities.
“It has been the opportunity of a lifetime to be associated with CUNY, but the last nine months or so have been challenging,” he said.
“I went through treatment for cancer — several months of radiation and chemo — and I have some continuing health issues,” Milliken, 60, said.
“My prognosis is very good, but it changes your perspective on things a bit. You think a little differently about how you want to spend your time.”
Milliken announced his departure from the City University of New York in a letter delivered to students and staffers on Tuesday afternoon.
He wrote that he decided to reveal his plan to leave now so that CUNY’s board of trustees will have time to identify and install a new chancellor before the next academic year begins in August. Milliken said the CUNY board would begin a search for his replacement in January.
Known to friends and family as J.B., Milliken became chancellor in 2014 after serving as president of the University of Nebraska for a decade.
Milliken holds a law degree from New York University, and earlier in his career, he practiced law on Wall Street.
He lives in a CUNY residence with his wife on the Upper East Side and has three children, ages 24, 22 and 19. The younger two are still in college.
Milliken said his next move might include teaching at CUNY, where he is a member of the faculty at the School of Law.
In listing his accomplishments at CUNY, Milliken included gains in graduation rates and launching new programs to aid needy students.
CUNY Board of Trustees Chairman Bill Thompson praised Milliken in a statement.
“He has been a true advocate and we deeply appreciate everything he has done for our university system,” Thompson said. “We wish him good health and continued success in his next endeavor.”