Harvard President's Salary Still Low

Despite a 12 percent increase, comparable to the national average, former University Neil L. Rudenstine’s yearly compensation remains far below other schools across the country.

For the ’99-’00 fiscal year, salaries for university presidents across the country increased by 11.2 percent, comparable to a percentage increase for corporate executives, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education’s report this week.

The median salary for a university president rose to $331,727. Also, 86 university presidents earned over $300,000 during the 2000 academic year compared to 74 the year before, a 16 percent increase.

Lower than four Ivy League presidents’ wages, Rudenstine’s salary , without benefits, for the ’99-’00 fiscal year was $352,650.

The numbers in the Chronicle’s survey were taken from Form 990, a federal tax return.

Current President Lawrence H. Summers’ salary will remain undisclosed for another two years until the Form 990 data becomes public.

Despite Harvard’s $18.1 billion endowment, Rudenstine’s salary was relatively low on the list, behind the earnings of 42 other university presidents earning over $400,000, including Richard C. Levin of Yale University ($561,709) and L Jay Olivia ($650, 746), president of New York University.

Richard L. Rubenstein of the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut topped the list—he earned $832,492 in salary and benefits before retiring in December 1999.

Second on the list, President of the University of Pennsylvania Judith Rodin earned $698,325, almost twice as much as Rudenstine’s.

Laurie Doyle, a spokesperson for University of Pennsylvania, defended Rodin’s substantial earnings, claiming that her salary is only a reflection of her success as a president.

“Under [Rodin], we’ve witnessed significant improvements in funding, the school’s reputation, and the quality of faculty,” she said. “The compensation is market-driven. To grab talented administrators like [Rodin], the compensation must be competitive.”

Such a business-oriented outlook on administration has become popular in the academic administrative world, according to university officials.

In contrast to presidential compensation, the average faculty salary went up only 3.7 percent from $56,282 to $58,352 for the ’99-’00 fiscal year, according to the American Association of University Professors.

Though some say university presidents make too much money, others defend the wages saying they are well-deserved.

“The university makes major investments in students and the faculty. To preserve these investments, boards of trustees and directors must hire business-savvy individuals,” said John Daly, a spokesperson for the University of Bridgeport. “We must offer compensation comparable to corporate executives.”