Robert L. King

Robert L. King (born December 27, 1946) is an American political figure most notable for having served as Monroe County, New York Executive and as the Chancellor of the State University of New York.

King was born and raised in Brighton, Monroe County, New York and graduated from Brighton High School. He graduated from Trinity College (Connecticut) and earned a Juris Doctor at the Vanderbilt University School of Law.

He began his career as a Deputy District Attorney in California. He returned to Rochester where he served as an Assistant District Attorney, as well as a Special Assistant United States Attorney working for the Organized Crime Strike Force, and ran unsuccessfully for Monroe County District Attorney against Howard M. Relin in 1983.

In 1986, he won a seat in the New York State Assembly which he held for five years. It was there that he befriended fellow Assemblyman George Pataki, who greatly influenced his later career. In 1991, he unseated Thomas Frey to become Monroe County Executive. In 1995, King resigned his office to join then-Governor Pataki as director of the State Office of Regulatory Reform. He cited his proposals to reform welfare, his introduction of Total Quality Management to county offices, the development of Frontier Field, education reforms, and collaboration with the city as his proudest achievements and his inability to achieve privatization of government services as his biggest disappointment.

In 1998, King became Pataki's budget director. In 1999, after a nearly year-long search, Pataki advanced King as a candidate to fill the shoes of John W. Ryan, the ailing Chancellor of the State University System, a move applauded by fiscal conservatives, but criticized by the SUNY rank and file. King had little experience in higher education and had authorized a SUNY budget freeze only two months prior. Additionally, Pataki had a longstanding desire to reduce the role of the state in the University's funding which already led to one Chancellor's departure. SUNY's board of trustees unanimously approved him and he took office on the first day of the new millennium.

During his time as Chancellor, King sought to shift funding for the University System from state taxpayers to private hands by limiting the University System's budget, requiring campuses to seek revenue from tuition increases, from outside research grants and contracts, and from outside donations. King also sought to index tuition to inflation for the first time in the University System's history.

Also the system made significant gains in enrollment, average SAT scores, research and fundraising. Total headcount enrollment grew by 40,000 students from 2000 to 2004, and the number of minority students grew 20 percent. SAT scores of incoming freshmen improved at every campus, and the average SAT score for the system was 1150 in 2004, 100 points above the national public mean score. From 2000 to 2005, SUNY research grew from $554.6 million to $918.9 million while fundraising grew $186.9 million in 2000 to $323.6 million in 2003.

King's tenure was marred by his son's garnering of unwanted headlines. After five years on the job, King sought a leave of absence, citing family issues, but the paid sabbatical raised the ire of the New York State Legislature. King publicly rescinded his request, and spent the next few months negotiating an agreement to move from his position into that of Interim President of State University of New York at Potsdam.

After retiring from SUNY, he joined the Arizona Community Foundation as its President and CEO.

At the end of 2008, King retired from the Arizona Community Foundation to take up the position of president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.