University President Henry Bienen earns more money than other presidents at private institutions in the Chicago area and several peer institutions across the country.
In 2003 the university paid Bienen $644,969, according to a survey conducted by the Chronicle for Higher Education. Bienen was one of 42 private college presidents with a compensation of more than half a million dollars. The group of private-college presidents earning a salary that high increased 56 percent in the 2003 fiscal year.
The average private university president’s salary jumped above $400,000 for the first time to hit $459,643.
Alan Cubbage, vice president for university relations, said the university cannot comment directly on the president’s pay and salary trends.
“The salaries are set by the Board of Trustees and reviewed by the compensation committee,” Cubbage said. “It’s all up to them to review the president’s performance.”
Cubbage said the Board of Trustees examines the pay in the industry as a whole including peer institutions when deciding the president’s annual salary. The length of service is a factor, Cubbage added, and the board also will look at the overall performance of the university, from academics to the financial situation, he said.
Bienen’s 2003 salary — which combines about $547,000 in base pay with slightly less than $100,000 in benefits — is higher than earnings of presidents at peer institutions, including Duke, Brown and Stanford universities.
Washington University in St. Louis’ chancellor, Mark Wrighton, made about $10,000 less than Bienen in 2003. Rice University President Malcolm Gillis’ salary was $602,019 in the 2002-03 school year.
Private universities geographically near NU also paled in presidential pay.
The University of Chicago paid its president about $100,000 less — $540,374 to be exact — in 2003.
Because private religious societies pay their presidents, data for Loyola University and DePaul University was unavailable. Lake Forest College, a smaller college also located in the Chicago area, paid its president $282,838.
Appointed in January 1995, Bienen’s starting annual salary was less than half of his 2003 paycheck. The university paid Bienen $282,349 from 1996-97.
The Chronicle of Higher Education attributes an increase in presidential pay to more competition between institutions. Private and even public schools are increasing their presidential salaries to attract more experienced candidates.
But a swiftly widening gap between professor and presidential pay raises may slow down the growth in presidential salaries, the study warned.
The Chronicle noted that the average salaries of faculty members nationwide increased at a slower rate than did the leaders’ compensation.
The study included all top university employees. The other highest paid NU officials include: Vice President for Business and Finance Eugene Sunshine, who earns $606,188; head football coach Randy Walker, $602,887; Kellogg School of Management Dean Dipak Jain, $576,137; and Feinberg School of Medicine Dean Lewis Landsberg, who earned $560,411.
Reach Stephanie Chen at [email protected].
