Lowell Milken's lifelong commitment to strengthening K–12 education has led to some of the country's most innovative means to dramatically advance educator effectiveness. As founder of the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching, Lowell actively works with a team of educators, research and policy experts who forge partnerships that create leadership and professional development opportunities for educators to thrive. Those working with NIET range from schools, districts and states to universities and other nonprofit organizations. NIET's services are rooted in the implementation of educator effectiveness best practices and comprehensive reform through TAP: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement. For over two decades, more than 100 research studies have pointed to the success of NIET's approach, with proven outcomes of increased teacher effectiveness and student performance.

Since 1982, Lowell co-founded and has chaired the Milken Family Foundation to discover and advance inventive, effective ways of helping people help themselves and those around them lead productive and satisfying lives—with a focus on education as the most conducive means to accomplish these goals. Lowell created the Milken Educator Awards to celebrate, elevate and activate exceptional teachers and principals. Guided by the philosophy that the most talented in the profession should be honored and emulated—as they are in film, sports and many other fields—the Awards have surprised outstanding educators with individual, unrestricted $25,000 prizes, presented during all-school ceremonies filled with cheering students, colleagues, distinguished officials and media. Recipients who comprise the national Milken Educator Network are selected in early to mid-career for what they have achieved and for the promise of what they will accomplish. This 2024-25 season will welcome the 3,000th recipient in the Awards' ranks since the initiative's inception in 1987, celebrating a history of changing lives in communities across America.

Hailed as the "Oscars of Teaching," the Milken Educator Award has become a national symbol of the crucial role that outstanding educators play in strengthening the skills, knowledge and experiences of the next generation of Americans and in encouraging talented young people to consider teaching as a career.

Another organization creating rich opportunities for educators, students and the community is the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes (LMC). Established by Lowell in 2007 with 1992 Kansas Milken Educator Norm Conard, LMC discovers, develops and communicates the stories of Unsung Heroes who have positively influenced the course of history. Through student-driven, project-based learning, students and entire communities learn that each person—regardless of age or circumstances—has the responsibility to take actions that create change by improving the lives of others. The Hall of Unsung Heroes opened in 2016 at the Lowell Milken Center's Fort Scott, Kansas, headquarters, as a state-of-the-art museum and hub of research and discovery. LMC has reached over 3,000,000 students around the world.

ARTEFFECT extends the learning around Unsung Heroes as role models by inviting middle and high school classrooms to interpret these stories through the visual arts. The initiative offers opportunities for advocacy, recognition, exhibitions, educational resources, and professional development through its Ambassadors Program—all to create a world-class art collection by students that honors the profound impact of one individual to inspire the many. 

Further education efforts championed by Lowell include the Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography (HMCT) at Art Center College of Design, which is dedicated to setting the global standard of excellence in typography and design education at a time of rapidly changing visual communication methods and devices.

In 2011, UCLA School of Law established the Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy (LMI) to extend greater opportunities to UCLA students, faculty, young law practitioners and alumni. Building on the school's already outstanding programs, LMI provides expanded studies in business law and policy, clinical experience and additional research opportunities for faculty, along with faculty fellowships, student scholarships, awards and business law conferences. The Lowell Milken Institute-Sandler Prize for New Entrepreneurs is a business plan competition offering a substantial financial prize to propel the winning business plan forward. The knowledge, skills and experience gained through LMI prepare students to assume leadership roles not only in the practice of law, but also in business, government and philanthropy. The Lowell Milken Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofits (LMPN) is a central hub for education, thought leadership and scholarship at a time when the generational wealth shift is transforming philanthropy and giving.

By creating strong and vibrant communities in philanthropy as well as business, Lowell actively promotes excellence in education for a global economy. Among other business leadership roles, he chairs the National Realty Trust, the largest property owner of early childhood centers in the U.S., and London-based Heron International, a worldwide leader in property development.

Lowell's accomplishments in education have been acknowledged with honors from the National Association of State Boards of Education, the Horace Mann League, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, Kappa Delta Pi international honor society in the field of education, and UCLA School of Law. In 2017, he was presented with the Education Commission of the States' James Bryant Conant Award, its highest honor, for his lifetime of significant individual contributions to improving education.

Lowell's efforts to advance educational excellence draw inspiration from the talented teachers he was privileged to have in the California public school system, which he attended from elementary through graduate school. At UC Berkeley, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude, receiving the School of Business Administration's Most Outstanding Student Award.

He received his law degree from UCLA, where he was awarded the academic honors of Order of the Coif and UCLA Law Review. In 2009, Lowell was named UCLA Law Alumnus of the Year for Public Service. Both Chapman University and Hebrew Union College have presented Lowell with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.