John B. King

About the Author

Dr. John B. King Jr. served in President Barack Obama’s cabinet as the 10th U.S. Secretary of Education. Over the course of his extensive and influential career in public education, he has been a high school social studies teacher, a middle school principal, the first African American and Puerto Rican to serve as New York State Education Commissioner, a college professor, and the President and CEO of The Education Trust, a national education civil rights organization. Currently, King is the Chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY), the nation’s largest comprehensive system of public higher education. Both of King's parents were career New York City public school educators. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife, an education researcher and former teacher, and has two daughters.