University President Henry S. Bienen was one of the top-paid private university presidents in 2005-06, according to a survey to be released Friday by The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Bienen received $814,572 during 2005-06, including $124,239 in benefits, according to the survey.
The top 10 total compensations at private universities ranged from Benjamin Ladner from American University, who earned $4,270,665, to Richard C. Levin from Yale University, who received $869,026. Ladner’s earnings included nearly $4 million in deferred payments and a severance package after he stepped down in October 2005.
Bienen’s salary was ranked 10th among presidents at universities with “very high research activity.” Johns Hopkins University President William R. Brody ranked first on that list with $1,938,024, which included nearly $1 million in deferred compensation.
Bienen was not ranked on The Chronicle’s broader list of the top 10 private college presidents’ salaries. Many of those university presidents received severance payments and other extra compensation beyond yearly pay.
The Chronicle surveyed salary information for 653 private-institution presidents in its annual Executive Compensation survey. Information was released earlier this week in an article and data on the Chronicle’s Web site. It used figures from the 2005-06 school year, the most recent year for which information was available.
Bienen’s salary has almost tripled during his decade-long tenure at NU. In 1996-97, his second year as president, Bienen’s compensation totalled $282,349. In comparison, Gary Barnett, NU’s head football coach at the time, received $1,403,370 in total compensation.
Alan Cubbage, vice president for university relations, declined to comment directly on Bienen’s salary.
A committee of the Board of Trustees sets the president’s salary each year. The group considers factors such as pay across academia and at competing universities, as well as length of service and the university’s performance, Cubbage told The Daily in November 2004.
According to The Chronicle, among private institutions, the median compensation of leaders of research institutions rose 37 percent in the last five years of the survey to $528,105. Eighty-one presidents of private institutions earned more than $500,000, up 200 percent from five years earlier.
Reach Emily Glazer at [email protected].
