America’s Top 50 Highest Paid Private University Presidents

With an earnings of $4 million, Wake Forest University President, Nathan O. Hatch was the highest-paid private university head in the United States, according to a new survey of executive compensation at private universities by the Chronicle of Higher Education.

How much America’s top 50 highest-paid private-university presidents make?

Of his total compensation of $4,004,617, Nathan O. Hatch’s base salary was $839,944 in 2015. He was paid a $92,000 bonus and received $3,009,376 in other compensation.

James W. Wagner, the former leader of Emory University in Atlanta, came in 2nd with an earnings of $3.5 million.

At nearly $3.2 million, C.L. Max Nikias, president of the University of Southern California was the third-highest paid president in the United States, followed by the University of Pennsylvania’s Amy Gutmann, and the University of Chicago’ Robert J. Zimmer.

Private university presidents earned an average of $569,932 in 2015 — up 9% from the year before, the study found.

America’s highest-paid private-college presidents:

1. Nathan O. Hatch, Wake Forest University in North Carolina
   Estimated earning: $4,004,617
2. James W. Wagner, Emory University in Atlanta
   Estimated earning: $3,510,451
3. C.L. Max Nikias, University of Southern California
   Estimated earning: $3,182,364
4. Amy Gutmann, University of Pennsylvania
   Estimated earning: $3,086,395
5. Robert J. Zimmer,  University of Chicago
   Estimated earning: $2,864,887
6. Lee C. Bollinger,  Columbia University
   Estimated earning: $2,507,637
7. Robert A. Brown, Boston University
   Estimated earning: $2,483,146
8. Daniel J. Curran, University of Dayton
   Estimated earning: $2,442,168
9. Joanne K. Glasser, Bradley University
   Estimated earning: $2,350,851
10. David E. Van Zandt, New School
    Estimated earning: $2,081,584
11. Joseph W. Polisi, Juilliard School
    Estimated earning: $1,983,788
12. Stephen K. Klasko, Thomas Jefferson University
    Estimated earning: $1,944,932
13. John A. Fry, Drexel University
    Estimated earning: $1,913,914
14. Paula S. Wallace, Savannah College of Art and Design
    Estimated earning: $1,901,846
15. Catharine Bond Hill, Vassar College
    Estimated earning: $1,774,446
16. David W. Leebron, Rice University
    Estimated earning: $1,730,998
17. Anthony G. Collins, Clarkson University
    Estimated earning: $1,720,982
18. George L. Hanbury II, Nova Southeastern University
    Estimated earning: $1,686,385
19. Victor J. Boschini Jr., Texas Christian University
    Estimated earning: $1,578,750
20. Peter W. Butler, Rush University
    Estimated earning: $1,572,095
21. Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard University
    Estimated earning: $1,565,251
22. Morton O. Schapiro, Northwestern University
    Estimated earning: $1,527,994
23. Donna E. Shalala, University of Miami
    Estimated earning: $1,472,442
24. John L. Lahey, Quinnipiac University
    Estimated earning: $1,455,168
25. Joseph E. Aoun, Northeastern University
    Estimated earning: $1,449,254
26. Shirley Ann Jackson, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
    Estimated earning: $1,425,669
27. George E. Martin, St. Edward’s University
    Estimated earning: $1,397,470
28. Nicholas S. Zeppos, Vanderbilt University
    Estimated earning: $1,384,985
29. Kenneth W. Starr, Baylor University
    Estimated earning: $1,362,956
30. Ronald J. Daniels, Johns Hopkins University
    Estimated earning: $1,336,294
31. Dennis J. Murray, Marist College
    Estimated earning: $1,317,122
32. Joel Seligman, University of Rochester
    Estimated earning: $1,296,635
33. Richard H. Brodhead, Duke University
    Estimated earning: $1,257,980
34. Edward Guiliano, New York Institute of Technology at Old Westbury
    Estimated earning: $1,246,951
35. Steven Knapp, George Washington University
    Estimated earning: $1,224,555
36. Mark S. Wrighton, Washington University in St. Louis
    Estimated earning: $1,219,667
37. Subra Suresh, Carnegie Mellon University
    Estimated earning: $1,205,311
38. John L. Hennessy, Stanford University
    Estimated earning: $1,202,934
39. Charles F. Monahan Jr., MCPHS University
    Estimated earning: $1,173,931
40. Peter Salovey, Yale University
    Estimated earning: $1,157,488
41. Barbara R. Snyder ,Case Western Reserve University
    Estimated earning: $1,152,836
42. Julio Frenk, University of Miami
    Estimated earning: $1,136,364
43. Stuart Rabinowitz, Hofstra University
    Estimated earning: $1,125,942
44. R. Gerald Turner, Southern Methodist University
    Estimated earning: $1,088,246
45. Nido Qubein, High Point University
    Estimated earning: $1,080,026
46. Christina Hull Paxson, Brown University
    Estimated earning: $1,067,491
47. Philip Hanlon, Dartmouth College
    Estimated earning: $1,067,366
48. Robert Fisher, Belmont University
    Estimated earning: $1,059,664
49. Steadman Upham., University of Tulsa
    Estimated earning: $1,056,885
50. Cornelius M. Kerwin, American University
    Estimated earning: $1,050,610