Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was one of 36... Read More
Jackson was one of 36 leaders of private colleges whose compensation exceeded $1 million in 2012, according to a survey released today by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Jackson, who has held her post at the school in Troy, New York, for 15 years, received a retention incentive of almost $5.9 million that helped boost her pay from about $1.1 million in 2011, the Chronicle said in a statement.
Jackson, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-trained physicist and the first black woman to lead a top U.S. research university, has consistently ranked among the top earners among private colleges. She has brought top faculty, funding and company relationships to the school, and
undergraduate applicants have increased by more than three times since she arrived, said Arthur Gajarsa, chairman of Rensselaer’s Board of Trustees.
“She is superb,” Gajarsa said in a telephone interview. “She’s worth the compensation package that we’ve structured to keep her here.”
John Lahey, president of Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, was the second highest-paid with $3.8 million, followed by Lee Bollinger, president of New York-based Columbia University, who received $3.4 million. Fourth was Amy Gutmann, president of the Philadelphia-based University of Pennsylvania, with $2.5 million. Charles Middleton, who will step down June 30 as president of Roosevelt University in Chicago, was fifth with $1.8 million.
Lee Bollinger, president of Columbia University, received $3.4 million in compensation in 2012.
Almost $400,000
The survey looked at 537 leaders from 497 colleges, and includes presidents whose terms began or ended in 2012. The survey’s method for calculating presidential salaries was changed this year to exclude set-aside payments and include only compensation that was received during the year.Average annual pay for a private school president was just below $400,000, a 2.5 percent increase from a year earlier, according to the statement. Using its old methodology, the survey reported last year that average pay in 2011 was $410,523 and 42 presidents made more than $1 million.
The Chronicle changed its salary analysis to avoid double-counting compensation, and avoid counting compensation that might not be awarded, said Jack Stripling, a senior reporter at the newspaper. Jackson would have ranked close to the top 10 paid private college presidents from 2008 to 2012 with or without her deferred compensation, because her base pay is relatively high, Stripling said.
Public Universities
The Chronicle also surveys public college presidents’ compensation. For its fiscal 2012 report released in May, it used the older methodology. Using the new calculations, the median pay for public-college leaders was almost $392,000, the Chronicle said.Two leaders of public institutions surpassed the $1 million mark, Graham Spanier, the former president of Pennsylvania State University with $2.8 million, and Jay Gogue, president of Auburn University with $2.3 million. Both received deferred compensation while Spanier’s total included severance pay, according to the Chronicle.
Top-Paid Private College Presidents 1. Shirley Ann Jackson Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (NY) $7,143,312 2. John L. Lahey Quinnipiac University (CT) $3,759,076 3. Lee C. Bollinger Columbia University (NY) $3,389,917 4. Amy Gutmann University of Pennsylvania $2,473,952 5. Charles R. Middleton Roosevelt University (IL) $1,762,956 6. Susan Hockfield* Massachusetts Institute of Technology $1,679,097 7. David W. Leebron Rice University (TX) $1,522,502 8. John E. Sexton New York University $1,404,484 9. Marc Tessier-Lavigne Rockefeller University (NY) $1,381,341 10. Richard C. Levin* Yale University (CT) $1,375,365 *No longer president at this institution.
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