Howard Aaron Gillman is an American scholar of political science and academic administrator, currently serving as the 6th chancellor of the University of California, Irvine since September 2014.

[1][2][3] Howard Gillman was born and raised in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

[6] During his tenure at UC Irvine, Gillman has expressed support for freedom of speech while holding that student opposition to this policy should not be dismissed as infantile.

But part of the learning environment you are creating in higher ed is one where any idea can be expressed, evaluated, contested and engaged".

[7] With Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of Berkeley Law, Gillman co-authored a book entitled "Free Speech on Campus", which argues that "campuses must provide supportive learning environments for an increasingly diverse student body but can never restrict the expression of ideas".