Jim Miller was a fashion industry entrepreneur before beginning his career in higher education at the Institute of International Education (IIE), where he served in various leadership capacities. Jim was the executive director of the Scholar Rescue Fund© (IIE-SRF), which has saved the lives and careers of over 900 threatened and persecuted scholars from 65 countries. He directed the Iraq Scholar Rescue Project, a public/private partnership and was the architect of numerous innovative higher education and refugee programs including Camps to Campuses, the Artists Protection Fund (APF), and the Women’s International Network (WIN).

Jim leads NYFA training programs in cooperation with U.S. Embassies around the globe, in recent years with Embassies and Consulates in Russia, Kazakhstan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Cuba, India, Pakistan, Philippines, Yemen, Nigeria, and South Africa. He has managed distinctive programs with partners including NETFLIX, Freedom House, MultiChoice Foundation, International American Development Bank (IADP), United Nations, UNESCO, European Commission, USAID, NCIG, OSF, and more. 

In 2021, Jim was pivotal in founding the 10 ARTS Foundation, named for the 10 visual and performing arts disciplines instructed at the New York Film Academy. He serves as the organization’s Executive Director overseeing fundraising and scholarship and grants awarding.

For a decade, Jim was the President of Studio Art College International (SACI), an art, architecture, design, and archeology U.S. accredited higher education institution in Florence, Italy. 

Jim serves on numerous nonprofit boards including the Endicott College Board of Advisors, Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI), and is the founder, past president, and current trustee of the Medhen Orphan Relief Effort (M.O.R.E.). Representing IIE, he served as a founding member of the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) and served on the Advisory Board of the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP). He also helped establish the Italian non-profit, the SACI Onlus.

 Jim has presented at higher education and human right conferences around the world and has authored numerous articles, including in peer reviewed journals. Jim is an Executive Producer of documentary films, including the award winning “Shirampari: The Legacy of the River”, and “Ever and the Sharks”.