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Clifton “Cliff” Iler will oversee the UA’s Office of General Counsel and will lead a team of in-house attorneys providing legal advice to Garimella and other senior leaders, said a UA news release Wednesday.

Iler will receive annual compensation of $425,000.

He currently serves as university counsel and senior assistant attorney general at the University of Virginia.

“I'm excited to join President Garimella's team and serve an institution whose mission and impact reach every corner of Arizona and far beyond,” Iler said. “The U of A's commitment to student success, groundbreaking research and engagement with its community reflects the very best of the public university ideal. I look forward to supporting that work and helping advance the university's strategic imperatives in the years ahead.”

Iler, who has three decades of experience in higher education and health care law, will succeed Laura Todd Johnson, who retired after 23 years at the UA.

His legal expertise includes education governance, research and compliance, health care law, employment and faculty matters, and First Amendment and constitutional issues, said the release.

Before the University of Virginia, Iler worked at the University of Kentucky, MCG Health Inc. and Alston & Bird LLP in Atlanta.

“His background working in complex academic health care settings and overseeing legal affairs for one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious public universities will enable the U of A to pursue our goals strategically and with the excellent legal counsel we need for continued success," Garimella said in the news release. 

Iler’s education includes a degree in English and economics from Centre College and a juris doctor from the University of Kentucky College of Law.