John B. King Jr. is an American educator, civil servant, and former state and federal government official who is the 15th Chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY). He previously served as President & CEO of The Education Trust, a national civil rights nonprofit which seeks to identify and close opportunity and achievement gaps for students from preschool through college. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 10th United States Secretary of Education from January 1, 2016, to January 20, 2017, under President Barack Obama. In April 2021, King announced that he would be running for the Democratic nomination in the 2022 Maryland gubernatorial election, but came in sixth place in the primary election, losing to Baltimore author Wes Moore.

The United States secretary of education is the head of the United States Department of Education. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States, and the federal government, on policies, programs, and activities related to all education in the United States. As a member of the Cabinet of the United States, the secretary is sixteenth in the line of succession to the presidency.