Executive Compensation at Duke University (2020)

Duke University (Duke) is one of the most academically competitive schools in the country with an acceptance rate at about 8% of applicants.  Located in Durham, North Caroline, Duke has about 17,000 students, of which 6,800 are undergraduates. The annual tuition is about $65,000 while room and board adds another $15,000 for a total annual cost of about $80,000.

In 2020, Duke’s total revenue was $3.2 billion (compared to $3.3 billion in 2019) with most of the income coming from 3 sources: contributions, gifts, and grants ($1.6 billion), tuition and academic fees ($1.1 billion) and investment income/sale of assets, and royalties ($450 million). Expenses were $3.1 billion (not including $300 million in depreciation).  At year-end, Duke had $10.9 billion in net fund assets.

On the IRS Form 990 (2019 for the year beginning July 1, 2019 and ending June 30, 2020), Duke reports $410 million  in grants were awarded with about $368 million given to domestic organizations and individuals.  Most of the grants ($343 million) appear to have been given to undergraduates, graduate, athletes, and pre and post doctoral students.

Duke reported having 33,549 employees in 2020 who received total compensation of $1.9 billion which equates to an average compensation of $57,000 (compared to $68,000 at Harvard). 4,117 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with the 26 most highly compensated individuals listed below:

• $7,353,496:  Michael W Krzyzewski, Coach
• $3,113,371:  Neal F Triplett, Chief Investment Officer
• $2,957,001:  David N Cutcliffe, Coach
• $2,707,031:  A Eugene Washington, Chancellor, Health Affairs
• $2,453,284:  Kevin M White, VP and Director of Athletics
• $1,519,990:  Vincent Price, President, Trustee
• $1,459,067:  Evan Jones, Investment Manager
• $1,445,007:  Joanne McCallie, Coach
• $1,343,028:  Ralph Snyderman, Chancellor Emeritus
• $1,252,921:  Justin B Nixon, Investment Manager
• $1,203,232:  Mary B Klotman, V Chan Health Affairs and Dean of SOM
• $1,064,939:  Mark Corigliano, Investment Manager
• $  986,225:  Tallman Trask III, EVP
• $  813,008:  Sally Kornbluth, Provost
• $  804,099:  James Scott Gibson, Executive Vice Dean of Administration
• $  710,441:  Pamela J Bernard, VP and University Counsel
• $  662,311:  Jennifer Francis, Executive Vice Provost Fin and Admin
• $  622,424:  Richard Brodhead, Former Officer
• $  616,892:  Valerie Ashby, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
• $  559,481:  Richard Vernon Riddell, Jr, VP and University Secretary
• $  557,058:  Timothy W Walsh, Treasurer and VP of Finance
• $  501,551:  Nancy Andrews, Former Key Employee
• $  496,035:  Eric Peterson, Former Employee
• $  482,971:  John J Noonan, Associate VP of Facilities
• $  390,898:  Robert Califf, Former Key Employee
• $  306,208:  James S Roberts, Former Key Employee

Of the 26 individuals listed above, 19 (or 73%) are men while 7 (or 27%) are women.  Collectively, the 26 individuals received total compensation of $37 million. Of the top 10 most highly compensated individuals who all received more than $1 million in compensation, 9 are men and 1 is a women. It is also important to note 4 out of the top 10 individuals above were related to sports, 3 are related to investment management, 1 is a chancellor emeritus, and 2 are related to academia.

Duke pays for first class and charter travel, travel for companions, health or social club dues including initiation fees, personal services and provides residences for certain staff.  In addition, Duke participates in gross up and tax indemnification payments. See the Form 990, Schedule J, Part III for supplemental information on the above information.

To read the IRS Form 990, click here.