Executive Compensation at Boston University (2022)

Boston University (BU) is a private research university with an acceptance rate at about 20% of applicants.  Located in Boston, Massachusetts, BU has about 37,00 students, of which 18,000 are undergraduates. The annual tuition, room, board, and fees is about $87,000.

In 2020, BU’s total revenue was $3.1 billion in 2022 (compared to $2.8 billion in 2021, $2.6 billion in 2020 and $2.7 billion in 2019) with most of the income coming from 2 sources: contributions, gifts, and grants ($73 million) and tuition, fees, and services  ($1.8 billion).  Expenses were $2.7 billion (not including $147 million in depreciation).  At year-end, BU had $5.2 billion in net fund assets – an increase of $1 billion since 2020 (even with a $532 million net unrealizable loss on investments in 2022).

On the IRS Form 990 (2021 for the year beginning July 1, 2021 and ending June 30, 2022), BU reports $819 million in grants, of which $638 million was awarded to domestic individuals, $137 million to domestic organizations, and $44 million to foreign organizations, governments, and individuals.  Most of the grants awarded to individuals were non-cash grants ($568 million). 20,281 individuals received $568 million in non-cash grants, or an average of $28,000, which means those paying full tuition supplemented other student’s tuition.

BU reported having 25,806 employees in 2022 (about 2,000 less than in 2020) who received total compensation of $1.3 billion, which equates to an average compensation of $52,000.

3,631 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with the 13 most highly compensated individuals listed below:

• $2,032,448:  Robert A Brown, President
• $1,468,001:  Tony Tannoury, Professor and Physician*
• $1,416,924:  Xinning Li, Professor and Physician
• $1,886,768:  Pushkar Mehra, Professor and Oral Surgeon
• $1,224,258:  Clarissa Hunnewell, Chief Investment Officer
• $1,100,072:  Jean Morrison, University Provost
• $1,194,722:  William Creevy, Professor and Physician*
• $  925,780:  Karen H Antman, Medical Campus Provost
• $  283,102:  Todd L C Klipp, Former SVP, Senior Counsel, Secretary
• $  630,493:  Gary W Nicksa, SVP, CFO, TRS (as of 10/1/21)
• $  622,024:  Erika Geetter, SVP, General Counsel and Secretary
• $  578,804:  Martin J Howard, SVP, CFO, and Treasurer (until 10/1/21)
• $  426,947:  Derek Howe, SVP, OP (as of 10/1/21)

A “*” indicates compensation was paid by a related/affiliated organization.

The 13 most highly compensated employees received $14 million.  9 of the 13 (69%) most highly compensated employees are male while 4 of the 13 (31%) are female.

The 7 most highly compensated employees received  $56 million in compensation from 2017-2022:

Robert A Brown:  Total Compensation 2017-2022:  $12 million

• 2022: $2,032,448
• 2021:  $2,037,319
• 2020: $2,106,761
• 2019:  $2,014,986
• 2018:  $1,864,947
• 2017:  $1,838,015

Pushkar Mehra:  Total Compensation 2017-2022:  $9 million

• 2022: $1,886,768
• 2021:  $1,339,390
• 2020: $1,536,703
• 2019:  $1,431,735
• 2018:  $1,336,070
• 2017:  $1,376,710

Tony Tannoury:  Total Compensation 2017-2022: $11 million

• 2022: $1,468,001:
• 2021:  $1,491,620
• 2020: $1,860,627
• 2019:  $1,466,782
• 2018:  $2,195,537
• 2017:  $2,850,754

Xinning Li:  Total Compensation 2021-2022:  $3 million

• 2022: $1,416,924
• 2021:  $1,46,378

Clarissa Hunnewell:  Total Compensation 2017-2022:  $7 million

• 2022: $1,224,258
• 2021:  $1,228,529
• 2020: $1,219,565
• 2019:  $1,139,123
• 2018:  $1,106,576
• 2017:  $1,116,894

William Creevy:  Total Compensation 2017-2022:  $7 million

• 2022: $1,194,722
• 2021:  $1,258,700
• 2020: $1,121,117
• 2019:  $1,192,333
• 2018:  $1,144,565
• 2017:  $1,126,332

Jean Morrison:  Total Compensation 2017-2022:  $7 million

• 2022: $1,100,072
• 2021:  $1,416,047
• 2020: $1,127,576
• 2019:  $1,082,442
• 2018:  $  998,o54
• 2017:  $1,017,169

BU paid for first class or charter travel, travel for companions, and provided a housing allowance or a residence for personal use. To read more about these expenses and contributions to a non-qualified supplemental retirement plan for top executives, see the Form 990, Schedule J, Part III, Supplemental Information.