10 of the Highest-Paid Professors in the U.S.
03/27/2012
Are University Officials/ Professors Overpaid?
I have previously blogged about the commercialization of academe whereby universities seek external sources of funds to fund programs and pay faculty more lucrative salaries. I often wonder about the fairness of paying hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars to a university president, coach of a successful NCAA team, and top researcher and professional. I often shake my head in disbelief when I compare the salaries of top university officials to average professors who are on the front lines in teaching students to become future leaders in business and government.
In California, the California State University board of trustees back in January capped salaries of newly hired campus presidents at $325,000 after an outcry over a $400,000 pay package approved for the new president of San Diego State University last year when tuition shot up 12 percent. The new policy will establish a salary ceiling of $325,000 or raise the salary by no more than 10 percent of the pay received by the outgoing president. These amounts pale in comparison to the ten top paid university professors described below.
I would like to thank the staff writers of ONLINE COLLEGES for sharing the following information. You can read many additional pieces on how universities operate by linking to their website.
1. David Silvers, Columbia University
In 2009, USC football coach Pete Carroll earned the distinction of being the highest-paid employee at a private college in America. He only beat out professor David Silvers by 2%. For being a resident dermatology teacher at Columbia, Silvers was blessed with an astronomical $4.33 million. Presidents that pay such exorbitant fees to individual professors are quick to remind us that doctors often make more than professors in private practice and that such salaries are necessary to secure the best instructors.
2. Dean Takahashi, Yale University
In 2010, Yale’s leadership announced that the president, vice presidents, and deans would be receiving no pay raises. Staff members’ salaries would be increased a max of $1,500, no matter their salary level. The move was an inevitable part of budget cuts at the school. But before you pat them heartily on the back, consider that the president was already making more than a million dollars and six other officers were making an average of $432,000 in 2008. Economics lecturer and senior director of investments Dean Takahashi is probably not concerned with a $1,500 pay raise, considering it represents .057% of the $2.6 million he was already making.
Dr. Khalil Tabsh is doing his part to keep the State of California from going totally bankrupt. According to the University of California, for a three-year period anyway (they don’t say which years), Dr. Tabsh’s full teaching was paid by professional fees. He did not receive any state funds those years. Still, in 2010 Dr. Tabsh pulled down $1.78 million, working in obstetrics and gynecology.
4. Dan J. Laughhunn, Duke University
You can’t spell “Laughhunn” without “laugh,” as in, what he does all the way to the bank. In 2009, Duke’s trustee chairman claimed Duke was in “dire financial straits” after net assets fell 30% that year. However, a year later financial reports were brought to light proving that despite the tough times, higher-ups at the school had made out like bandits. As professor emeritus at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, Laughhunn had been paid $1,031,673 by Duke Corporate Education, a not-for-profit “support corporation” for Duke. The million dollars was believed to be on top of Laughhunn’s teaching salary.
It took all the tuition of 35 Harvard students to pay professor William Fruhan’s salary in 2008-2009. With a student population of 19,200 that year, that seems like a steal. Except, at a yearly tuition price tag of $33,000, this means Fruhan raked in $1.19 million, making him one of the highest-paid employees at Harvard. As much as $720,000 of the amount came in the form of retirement incentives. The school is shelling out for Fruhan’s years of business experience as the director of15 different corporations.
6. Mark D. Rosenbaum, University of Michigan
Wouldn’t it be awkward to be the president or dean of a college and not even be the highest-paid employee? At UM, President Mary Sue Coleman’s $570,000 annual salary doesn’t even put her in the top 10. Law profs Karl E. Lutz and Alison E. Hirschel each bring in around $750,000, but their colleague Mark Rosenbaum trumps them both. In 2010, the school paid the 15-year veteran professor and current director of the ACLU in Los Angeles $805,092.
7. William Friedman, University of Florida
Florida governor Rick Scott recently made waves by making public the salaries of employees at Florida’s 11 public universities. As you can imagine, it wasn’t the janitors who were perturbed. No doubt the faces of doctors David Smith and Kevin Behrns were red to have their $600,000+ salaries publicized. At least they could say they weren’t the highest-paid professors at UF. That honor belongs to neurosurgeon Dr. William Friedman, who earned an $808,000 salary in 2010.
8. J. Michael Davis, University of Michigan
You have to go pretty far down the list of law professors at UM before you hit Mr. Davis’ pay grade, but he’s there at a handsome price of $672,000. Not bad considering the typical business professor makes just over $100,000. Davis teaches entrepreneurial studies at the Ross School of Business. And he is not to be confused with this James Michael Davis.
9. Andrew M. Isaacs, UC Berkeley
If you’ve been wondering where to find the 1%, look no further than a UC school. As The Daily Californian points out, 24 Berkeley employees technically qualified for the top 1% tax bracket according to the IRS, based on their 2010-2011 earnings. Leading the pack was adjunct professor of business and engineering Andrew Isaacs, who scored $709,000 in pay, edging out marketing professor Teck Hua Ho’s $613,000 take-home. Isaacs directs Berkeley’s energy innovation research and teaches five graduate-level courses.
10. Steven Weinberg, University of Texas
Football is king in the South, and coaches’ salaries definitely reflect that. But a few intellectuals command decent money, like physics prof Steven Weinberg. For his services Weinberg receives $531,000 from UT. He certainly seems to be working for his money; he’s published more than 300 scholarly articles and written 10 books. And he’s a legend in theoretical physics: he’s been in the game since getting his Ph.D. in 1957, and he won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979.
These exorbitant salaries have no place in institutions of higher learning at a time when tuition and fees are skyrocketing. My 30 years in teaching tells me that universities are top-heavy with administrators and administrative positions that should be consolidated and/or eliminated thereby saving millions that can be turned into instructional support. It takes bold leadership to make such changes in a culture that is historically slow to change. It make take laws such as the one in California to force the changes.
Blog posted by Steven Mintz, aka Ethics Sage, on March 27, 2012