James B. (“J.B.”) Milliken is president of the University of Nebraska, a position he has held since August 2004. He also holds faculty appointments in the College of Law at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the School of Public Administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He previously served as senior vice president for the 16-campus University of North Carolina. Prior to joining UNC, Milliken was vice president of the University of Nebraska.
Milliken is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was a member of Phi Delta Theta, the Society of Innocents, the chancellor's senior honorary, and the Phi Beta Kappa Society. Milliken earned his law degree in 1983 from New York University, where he was a Root-Tilden Scholar. He practiced law on Wall Street before joining the University of Nebraska in 1988. He has also worked in Washington as legislative assistant to Congresswoman Virginia Smith.
Milliken serves on the board of directors of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC) and as a co-chair of the Council on Competitiveness' Regional Innovation Initiative Leadership Steering Committee. He also serves on the board of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, Nebraska State Chamber of Commerce and the Nebraska “Dream It, Do It” workforce initiative. He co-chairs the Nebraska P-16 program and is a member of the Governor’s Education Leadership Council, the Board of Academic Advisors of the Omaha-based Building Bright Futures scholarship initiative and the NASULGC Commission on On-line Learning. Milliken is vice chairman of BioNebraska and a member of the U.S. Strategic Command Consultation Committee and the Business Higher Education Forum. Milliken and his wife, Nana Smith, live with their three children in Lincoln.