University of Richmond caps a recent list of compensation to the state’s private university presidents. Photo by John Henley, courtesy of UR.
It pays to be the top dog in Spider country.
Edward Ayers, University of Richmond’s president, brought in more than $1 million in total compensation in 2012, making him the highest-paid private college president in the state that year, according to a report released this week.
The report is produced by The Chronicle of Higher Education and details how much private university presidents across the country earned in the 2012 calendar year. The median pay was around $392,000, which was a 2.5 percent increase from the year before. Three dozen of those presidents, including Ayers, made over $1 million.
Of the 18 presidents of private colleges in Virginia, the median pay came in at just over $600,000.
The top three earners in the commonwealth included Ayers at $1 million, Jerry Falwell Jr. of Liberty University, who pulled in $803,860, and John E. Klein of Randolph College, who earned $784,926.
Ayers ranked 35th in the country in terms of total compensation for 2012. His pay package that year included a base salary of $481,000, $388,325 in “other pay” and $138,000 in nontaxable benefits.
“Other pay,” according to the report, includes perks like vehicles and parking, housing payments, travel or severance packages. Ayers announced in February that he will step down from his position in June 2015, but will continue to work on the UR faculty.
In terms of base salary, Ayers fell behind Falwell, who sported a base of $779,000 in 2012 and pulled in $803,000 in total compensation.
The lowest-earning private president in Virginia for 2012 was Roy Ferguson Jr., who served as interim president of Bridgewater College and earned $208,956 in total compensation. His predecessor George Cornelius, who left Bridgewater in 2012, had a base pay of $94,901.
The Chronicle compiles the information from tax forms the schools file with the IRS. Read the full report here.
The top five earners in the nation were Shirley Ann Jackson at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with $7.1 million, John Lahey of Quinnipiac University with $3.7 million, Lee Bollinger of Columbia University with $3.3 million, Amy Gutmann of the University of Pennsylvania with $2.4 million and Charles Middletown of Roosevelt University with $1.7 million.
Here are the top 10 presidents of Virginia private colleges in order of total compensation:
University of Richmond, Edward L. Ayers, $1,008,770
Liberty University, Jerry Falwell Jr., $803,860
Randolph College, John E. Klein, $784,926
Washington and Lee University, Kenneth P. Ruscio, $598,887
Hampton University, William R. Harvey, $418,016
Lynchburg College, Kenneth R. Garren, $396,324
Bridgewater College, George Cornelius, $378,183
Virginia Wesleyan College, William T. Greer Jr., $343,966
Shenandoah University, Tracy Fitzsimmons, $334,686
Regent University, Carlos A. Campo, $325,861
University of Richmond caps a recent list of compensation to the state’s private university presidents. Photo by John Henley, courtesy of UR.
It pays to be the top dog in Spider country.
Edward Ayers, University of Richmond’s president, brought in more than $1 million in total compensation in 2012, making him the highest-paid private college president in the state that year, according to a report released this week.
The report is produced by The Chronicle of Higher Education and details how much private university presidents across the country earned in the 2012 calendar year. The median pay was around $392,000, which was a 2.5 percent increase from the year before. Three dozen of those presidents, including Ayers, made over $1 million.
Of the 18 presidents of private colleges in Virginia, the median pay came in at just over $600,000.
The top three earners in the commonwealth included Ayers at $1 million, Jerry Falwell Jr. of Liberty University, who pulled in $803,860, and John E. Klein of Randolph College, who earned $784,926.
Ayers ranked 35th in the country in terms of total compensation for 2012. His pay package that year included a base salary of $481,000, $388,325 in “other pay” and $138,000 in nontaxable benefits.
“Other pay,” according to the report, includes perks like vehicles and parking, housing payments, travel or severance packages. Ayers announced in February that he will step down from his position in June 2015, but will continue to work on the UR faculty.
In terms of base salary, Ayers fell behind Falwell, who sported a base of $779,000 in 2012 and pulled in $803,000 in total compensation.
The lowest-earning private president in Virginia for 2012 was Roy Ferguson Jr., who served as interim president of Bridgewater College and earned $208,956 in total compensation. His predecessor George Cornelius, who left Bridgewater in 2012, had a base pay of $94,901.
The Chronicle compiles the information from tax forms the schools file with the IRS. Read the full report here.
The top five earners in the nation were Shirley Ann Jackson at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with $7.1 million, John Lahey of Quinnipiac University with $3.7 million, Lee Bollinger of Columbia University with $3.3 million, Amy Gutmann of the University of Pennsylvania with $2.4 million and Charles Middletown of Roosevelt University with $1.7 million.
Here are the top 10 presidents of Virginia private colleges in order of total compensation:
University of Richmond, Edward L. Ayers, $1,008,770
Liberty University, Jerry Falwell Jr., $803,860
Randolph College, John E. Klein, $784,926
Washington and Lee University, Kenneth P. Ruscio, $598,887
Hampton University, William R. Harvey, $418,016
Lynchburg College, Kenneth R. Garren, $396,324
Bridgewater College, George Cornelius, $378,183
Virginia Wesleyan College, William T. Greer Jr., $343,966
Shenandoah University, Tracy Fitzsimmons, $334,686
Regent University, Carlos A. Campo, $325,861
Ed Ayers has been a breath of fresh air at the UR campus and worth every dime they paid him! I look forward to him getting some time off his day job to finish his two- part social history of the Civil War. You’ve kept us waiting too long, Ed.