Executive Compensation at the University of Chicago (2021)

The University of Chicago (UC) is a private nondenominational research university that accepts about 7% of the students who apply. UC has approximately 7,000 undergraduate students and 10,000 graduate students.  The annual tuition with room and board for an undergraduate is about $90,000 annually which means a 4-year degree is about $360,000.

There are 51 voting members (trustees) of the governing body (board of trustees), 44 of whom are independent.  However, the Form 990 reports 52 trustees, which appears to be due to timing differences.  41 of the 52 (79%) are male while 11 of the 52 (21%) are female.

The IRS Form 990 for the year closing June 30, 2021 reported $4.2 billion in revenue (compared to $3.7 billion in 2020 and $4.5 billion in 2019; which came primarily from 4 sources:

• $1.8 billion:  Contributions, Gifts, and Grants
• $1.1 billion:  Tuition and Fees
• $0.7 billion:  Sales/Education/Etc
• $0.6 billion:  Investment Income, Gains on the Sale of Assets and Inventory

Expenses during the same period were $3.8 billion (not including $200 million in depreciation and $200 million in negative actuarial adjustments because a negative actuarial adjustment is typically recognized as an adjustment to assets and not recognized as a negative expense (revenue)) primarily from 7 areas:

• $2.218 billion (53% of revenue):  Compensation
• $   614 million (15% of revenue):  Grants (primarily domestic student financial aid)
• $   362 million (9% of revenue):  Office-related Expenses
• $    191 million (% of revenue):  Support Services, Equipment Rental, Repairs
• $   183 million (4% of revenue):  Fees for Services
• $   165 million (4% of revenue):  Interest
• $    16 million (less than 1% of revenue):  Advertising and Promotion
• $    14 million (less than 1% of revenue):  Travel and Conferences

COMPENSATION

Compensation expense is typically about half of total revenue at most colleges and universities and historically UC was no different.

UC spent $2.2 billion on compensation for the 25,926 employees (about 1,000 less employees than in 2020) which equates to an average compensation of $86,000 (compare this to $82,000 at Yale, $73,000 at Penn, $64,000 at Princeton, and $51,000 at Georgetown).

5,051 individuals received more than $100,000 in compensation with the 23 most highly compensated listed below:

• $3,009.549:   Kenneth S Polonsky, EVP Med Affairs*
• $2,449,016:  Robert J Zimmer, President
• $2,347,943:  Mark A Schmid, VP and Chief Investment Officer
• $2,121,292:  David Barclay, COO, CRSP
• $1,766,575:  Valluvan Jeevanandam, Chief Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery
• $1,597,079:  Luca Vricella, Professor of Surgery
• $1,403,284:  Joanna Rupp, Managing Director, Private Equity
• $1,008,218:  Madhav Rajan, Dean, Booth School of Business
• $   871,177:  Kimberly Taylor, VP and General Counsel
• $  813,082:  Ka Yee Lee, Provost
• $  789,453:  James G Nondorf, VP Enrollment and Student Adv
• $  788,926:  Sharon Marine, VP Alumni Relations and Development
• $  735,759:  Ivan Samstein, VP and CFO
• $  728,355:  Derek Douglas, VP Civic Engagement
• $  713,076:  Juan DePablo, VP, National Laboratories
• $  705,460:  Daniel Diermeier, Provost
• $  606,785:  Catherine Callow-Wright, VP, Secretary of UC
• $  590,990:  Belaji Srinivasan, VP Global Engagement
• $  576,380:  Paul Rand, VP, Communications
• $  446,923:  David P Fithian, EVP
• $  395,440:  Michele Rasmussen, Dean of Students
• $  311,900:  Lori Berko, Secretary
• $  265,076:  John Kroll, AVP, Finance

A “*” indicates a portion of compensation was from a related/affiliate organization.

As illustrated above, the 23 most highly compensated employees received $25 million in compensation.  16 of the 23, or 70% of the most highly compensated individuals are male while 7, or 30% are female.  Of the 10 most highly compensated individuals at UC, 7 are male and 3 are female.

10 of the highly compensated received $82 million in compensation over the past 5 years:

Mark Schmid:  Total Compensation 2017-2021: $15 million

• 2021:  $2,347,943
• 2020:  $3,274,476
• 2019:  $3,149,538
• 2018:  $3,185,831
• 2017:  $2,957,725

Kenneth Polonsky:  Total Compensation 2017-2021:  $15 million

• 2021:  $3,009,549
• 2020:  $3,111,160
• 2019:  $3,013,704
• 2018:  $2,744,826
• 2017:  $3,268,315

Robert Zimmer:  Total Compensation 2017-2021:  $17 million

• 2021:  $2,449,016
• 2020:  $2,457,634
• 2019:  $6,865,835
• 2018:  $2,371,617
• 2017:  $3,062,736

Daniel Diermeier:  Total Compensation 2017-2021:  $5 million

• 2021:  $  705,460
• 2020:  $1,425,618
• 2019:  $1,116,587
• 2018:  $  999,803
• 2017:  $  954,513

Joanna Rupp:  Total Compensation 2017-2021:  $7 million

• 2021:  $1,403,284
• 2020:  $1,862,148
• 2019:  Not Listed
• 2018:  $1,731,743
• 2017:  $1,614,755

Valluvan Jeevanvandam:  Total Compensation 2017-2021:  $8 million

• 2021:  $1,766,575
• 2020:  $1,846,847
• 2019:  $1,382,358
• 2018:  $1,456,994
• 2017:  $1,367,716

Luca Vricella:  Total Compensation 2020-2021:  $3 million

• 2021:  $1,597,079
• 2020:  $1,775,599

David Barclay:  Total Compensation 2019-2021:  $5 million

• 2021:  $2,121,292
• 2020:  $1,714,773
• 2019:  $1,491,543

Madhav Rajan:  Total Compensation 2019-2021:  $3 million

• 2021:  $1,008,218
• 2020:  $1,069,147
• 2019:  $1,023,350

Kimberly Taylor:  Total Compensation 2017-2021: $4 million

• 2021:  $871,177
• 2020:  $864,350
• 2019:  $843,192
• 2018:  $787,471
• 2017:  $744,181

UC paid 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, and made gross up payments or tax indemnifications (see Schedule J, Part III of the Form 990 for more detailed information on these benefits).

Transactions with Interested Persons include:

• A $1,250,000 loan was made to Madhav Rajan. The outstanding balance is $1,250,000.
• A $100,000 loan was made to Juan De Pablo. The outstanding balance is $20,000.

James S Crown, a trustee of UC, and his family own an indirect interest in Tishman Speyer Crown equities, LLC (Tishman Speyer) which through a subsidiary owns an office building in Washington, DC in which UC leases office space. The lease between the university and Tishman Speyer was negotiated at arms’ length and was concluded on fair market terms.  UC paid Tishman Speyer a total of $239,768 in rent, taxes, and expenses for this property during the year ending June 30, 2020.

UC also leases office space in NY, NY from Tishman Speyer. The lease was negotiated at arms’ length and was concluded on fair market terms. UC paid Tishman Speyer a total of $375,795 in rent, taxes, and expenses for this property during the year ending June 30, 2020.

Rachel Kohler, a trustee of UC, owns more than 35% of CareT Health LLC d/b/a NowPow, a healthcare company that connects patients with social services agencies and support organizations to improve health outcomes. For the year ending June 30, 2021, NowPow received $16,300 in fees from the University of Chicago, in connection with the University’s purchase of NowPow services.  Separately, UC received $30,000 from NowPow under a licensing agreement.

Rodney Goldstein, a Trustee of UC, is Co-Managing Partner of Wealth Strategist Partners (WSP), an investment advisory firm. For the year ending June 30, 2021, Stuart E. Lucas, Co-Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of WSP, served as co-director of an executive education program at the UC Booth School of Business, for which WSP received $77,538 in fees.

Emmanuel Roman, a trustee of UC, is the CEO of PIMCO, a fixed income investment firm with which UC has invested a portion of its endowment. PIMCO received approximately $1,595,205 in fees in connection with the university’s investment for the year ending June 30, 2021.

David M Rubenstein, a trustee of UC, is a co-foudner and Co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm with which UC has invested a portion of its endowment. The Carlyle Group received approximately $260,795 in fees in connection with the university’s investment for the year ending June 30, 2021.

Paul Yovovich, a trustee of UC, is President, Principal, and Co-founder of Lake Capital, a private equity firm with which the university has invested a portion of its endowment.  Lake Capital received approximately $141,811 in fees in connection with the university’s investment for the year ending June 30, 2021.

Saadi Bartsch-Zimmer, the wife of UC President Robert J Zimmer, is employed by UC as a professor of classics. Ms. Bartsch-Zimmer was paid a gross salary of $314,384 for the calendar year 2021 in connection with her employment.

Tamar Polonsky, the daughter of Kenneth Polonsky, Dean, and EVP for Medical Affairs, is employed by UC as an associate professor in the Department of Medicine. Dr. Polonsky was paid $361,403 for the calendar year 2021 in connection with her employment.

Ariela Lazar, the wife of the former UC Provost, Daniel Diermeier, is employed by UC as a lecturer in the university’s Department of Philosophy and Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies. Ms. Lazar was paid $124,198 for the calendar year 2021 in connection with her employment.

Bali Srinivasan, a University officer is also owner of a management consulting firm (Shasta Pte Ltd) that received $325,424 for consulting.

1,487 independent contractors received more than $100,000 in compensation. The 5 highest were reported to be:

• $30.2 million:  Turner Construction, of Chicago, IL for construction
• $13.7 million:  Bon Appetit, of Palo Alto, CA for food service
• $ 9.5 million:  Bulley and Andrews, of Chicago, Il for construction
• $12.8 million:  American Building Maintenance, of Chicago, IL for maintenance
• $ 9.4 million:  Wight Construction Services, of Darien IL for construction

GRANTS

In 2021, UC received $1.1 billion in tuition and gave grants of $614 million, of which $529 million was to students.  $168 million in cash grants were provided to 4,219 undergraduate students, or an average of $40,000.  $356 million in cash grants were provided to 8,348 graduate students, or an average of $43,000.  $5 million in cash grants were provided to 1,653 pre collegiates, or an average of $3,000.  In essence, about 50% of tuition received is provided to other students in the form of cash grants.

To read the IRS Form 990 (2020 for the year ending June 30, 2021), click here.