Executive Salaries at the University of Chicago

The University of Chicago (UC) is a private nondenominational research university that accepts about 8% of the students who apply. UC has approximately 6,300 undergraduate students and 10,200 graduate students.  The annual tuition with room and board for an undergraduate is about $77,000 annually which means a 4-year degree is about $300,000.

The IRS Form 990 (2015) for the year closing June 30, 2016 reported $3.2 billion in revenue which came primarily from 4 sources:

• $1.6 billion:  Contributions including $1 billion in government grants/contributions
• $780 million:  Tuition and Fees
• $580 million:  Sales/Education/Etc
• $280 million:  Investment Income, Gain on the Sale of Assets, Gains on Sale of Inventory

Expenses during the same period were $3.2 billion (not including depreciation) primarily from 7 areas:

• $1.845 billion (58% of revenue):  Compensation
• $ 428 million (13% of revenue):  Grants (primarily domestic student financial assistance)
• $  389 million (12% of revenue):  Office-related Expenses
• $  178 million (6% of revenue):  Fees for Services ($117 million are other with no detail provided)
• $  115 million (4% of revenue):  Support Services and Other Expenses
• $  114 million (4% of revenue):  Interest
• $  102 million (3% of revenue):  Travel and Conferences

Compensation expense is typically about half of total revenue at most colleges and universities and UC is no different. UC spent $1.845 billion on compensation for the 25,036 employees which equates to an average compensation of $74,000 (compare this to $75,000 at Yale, $68,000 at Penn, $64,000 at Princeton, and $46,000 at Georgetown).

3,716 individuals received more than $100,000 in compensation with the 26 most highly compensated listed below:

• $3,232,887:  Robert J Zimmer, President
• $2,951,783:  Mark A Schmid, VP and Chief Investment Officer
• $2,257,391:  Kenneth S Polonsky, EVP Medical Affairs ($202,466 from a related org)
• $1,587,648:  Joanna Rupp, Managing Director, Private Equity
• $1,525,359:  Patrick O’Hara, Investment Chief Operating Officer
• $1,524,618:  Michael Edelson, Investment Chief Risk Officer
• $1,293,544:  Valluvan Jeevanandam, Chief Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery
• $1,207,029:  Beth A Harris, Interim Director Lab Schools
• $1,187,428:  Arieh Shalhav, Professor and Chief
• $  920,088:  Everett Vokes, Chairman of Medicine
• $  875,297:  Eric Isaacs, Provost
• $  806,982:  Rowan Miranda, VP Operations and CFO
• $  732,975:  Richard Iorio, VP and Chief Human Resource Officer
• $  712,352:  Kimberly Taylor, VP and General Counsel
• $  672,495:  Sunil P Kumar, Dean, Booth School of Business
• $  644,109:  Kenneth Manotti, VP Alumni Relations and Development
• $  605,033:  David P Fithian, EVP
• $  588,084:  James G Nondorf, VP Enrollment and Student Adv
• $  555,053:  Derek Douglas, VP Civic Engagement
• $  462,060:  Julie Peterson, VP Communications
• $  461,091:  Donald H Levy, VP Research
• $  404,284:  Ian Soloman, VP Global Engagement
• $  361,552:  Karen Warren Coleman, VP Campus and Student Life
• $  328,410:  Darren Reisberg, Secretary of the University
• $  310,383:  Katie Callow-Wright, VP and Chief of Staff
• $  168,047:  John Longbrake, VP Communications

As illustrated above, 20 of the 26, or 77% of the most highly compensated individuals are male while 6, or 23% are female.  Of the 10 most highly compensated individuals at UC, 8 are male and 2 are female.  2 of the above individuals received severance payments (Beth Harris:  $912,578; Richard Iorio:  $677,563) and two individuals participated or received funds from a non-qualified retirement plan (Robert J Zimmer:  $346,800; Kenneth Polonsky:  $202,486).

UC pays for first class or charter travel, travel for companions, health or social club dues or initiation fees, personal services, housing allowance or residence for personal use (see Schedule J, Part III of the Form 990 for more detailed information on these benefits).

Transactions with Interested Persons included 3 personal loans to officers:

• $136,000 to David Fithian (balance of $94,571)
• $300,000 to Ian Solomon (balance of $265,001)
• $100,000 to Kim Taylor (balance of $80,000)

To read the IRS Form 990 (2015) for the year ending June 30, 2016, click here.