CUNY head bows out

CUNY Chancellor James Milliken announced on Tuesday that he’s stepping down after just three years on the job, suggesting he didn’t have the confidence of a revamped board of trustees appointed by Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio.

“The head of a major university like CUNY works closely with a board of trustees in developing and implementing a vision. Of the 17 trustees on the board that recruited and appointed me in January 2014, two remain today,” Milliken said in a note to “friends and colleagues.”

“The governor has appointed nine new members and the mayor four. These new trustees will have their own ideas about CUNY, and they should have the opportunity to help shape the leadership and agenda for the future.”

Milliken also noted in the note that he has had a tough year personally.

After his 60th birthday, he discovered he had throat cancer and underwent radiation and chemo treatments. He thanked the trustees for “demanding that I put my health and family first.”

The move comes after a turbulent period at CUNY.

Cuomo has exerted a tighter grip over the sprawling school system — especially after a spending scandal and criminal probe triggered the ouster of the president of the flagship City College, Lisa Coico.

A Cuomo ally — former city Comptroller Bill Thompson — chairs CUNY’s board of trustees. The governor’s budget director, Robert Mujica, a graduate of CUNY’s Brooklyn College, also sits on the board.

Milliken will resign effective at the end of the academic year in the spring. A search for the next chancellor will begin in January.