Executive Compensation at Harvard (2023)

Harvard is a private teaching and research university with an acceptance rate at about 5% of applicants.  Located in Boston, Massachusetts, Harvard has about 25,000 students (both undergraduate and graduate students). The annual tuition, room, board, and fees is about $85,000 which means a 4-year degree is about $340,000.

There are 13 voting members (Fellows) of the governing body, 10 of whom are independent, 8 of the 13 (62%) are male while 5 of the 13 (38%) are female.

In 2023, Harvard’s total revenue was $6.1 billion (compared to $9.6 billion in 2022, $9 billion in 2021 and $7 billion in 2020) with the decline over previous year primarily due to lower investment income.   Income was primarily from 3 sources:  investment income, gains, and royalties ($1.8 billion), contributions, gifts, and grants ($1.9 billion) and tuition, fees, and services  ($2 billion).

Expenses were $6.3 billion (not including $400 million in depreciation) – $200 million more than total revenue.

At year-end, Harvard had $59 billion in net assets – virtually unchanged from the prior year even though Harvard spent $200 million more than total revenue reported, because of $300 million in changes to net assets (i.e. adjustment for retirement obligations, etc).

On the IRS Form 990 (for the year ending June 30, 2023), Harvard reports $889 million in grants (about 15% of revenue), of which $714 million was awarded to domestic individuals, $145 million to domestic organizations, and $29 million to foreign organizations, governments, and individuals.  All of the grants awarded to individuals were cash grants ($714 million):

• $270 million was awarded to 10,493 graduate students for tuition and and fees (avg of $26,000)
• $236 million was awarded to 4,357 undergraduate  for tuition and fees (avg of $54,000)
• $106 million was awarded to 7,107 graduate students for stipends (avg of $15,000)
• $102  million was awarded to 11,074 students for various other reasons (avg of $9,000)

It is unclear why the number of students awarded grants (about 33,000) exceeds the total student population (25,000) with the logical reason being some students received various types of assistance.

Harvard reported having 37,629 employees in 2023 who received total compensation of $2.9 billion  which equates to an average compensation of $77,000.   5,990 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with the 24 most highly compensated individuals listed below:

• $2,394,548:  Katherine N Lapp, EVP (until 8/5/22)
• $2,234,132:  Rohit Deshpande, Faculty
• $2,119,148:  Walter C Kester, Faculty
• $1,757,109:  Lawrence S Bacow, Fellow/President
• $1,381,685:  David J Malan, Faculty
• $1,122,767:  Alan M Garber, Provost
• $1,089,233:  Mihir Desai, Faculty
• $1,067,819:  Vilangadu G Narayanan, Faculty
• $1,026,645:  Srikant M Datar, Dean, Faculty of Business (as of 1/1/21)
• $  970,197:  George Q Daley, Dean, Faculty of Medicine
• $  951,373:  Claudine Gay, Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
• $  935,672:  Brian Lee, VP for Alumni Affairs and Development
• $  799,702:  Diane Lopez, VP and General Counsel
• $  703,040:  Thomas J Hollister, VP for Finance and CFO
• $  675,202:  Meredith Weenick, VP for Campus Services
• $  621,017:  Klara Jelinkova, VP and CIO (as of 9/13/21)
• $  614,440:  Paul Andrew, VP, Public Affairs and Communication
• $  567,911:  Manuel Cuevas-Trisan, VP for HR (as of 8/2/21)
• $  565,519:  Marc L Goodheart,  VP and Secretary of the University
• $  556,165:  Michael D Smith, Faculty
• $  477,150:  Martha Whitehead, VP for the Harvard Library
• $  461,673:  Drew Gilpin Faust, Faculty
• $  354,766:   Sean Caron, VP for Campus Services (as of 1/3/23)
• $  203,617:  Karen Gordon Mills, Fellow, Senior Fellow at HBS

A “*” indicates a portion of compensation came from a related/affiliated organization.

The 24 most highly compensated employees received $24 million in compensation.  17 of the 24 (71%) most highly compensated employees are male while 7 of the 24 (29%) are female.

The most highly compensated employee was Katherine Lapp, who received $2.4 million in compensation in 2023.  From 2019-2023, the most highly compensated employees received $53 million (note: highly compensated employees in 2019-2022 but not in 2023 are not listed below):

Katherine Lapp:  Total Compensation 2019-2023:  $6 million

• 2023:  $2,394,548
• 2022:  $  783,839
• 2021:  $  770,423
• 2020:  $  812,012
• 2019:  $  781,537

Rohit Deshpande:  Total Compensation 2023:  $2.2 million

• 2023:  $2,234,132

Walter Kester:  Total Compensation 2023:  $2.1 million

• 2023:  $2,119,148

Lawrence S Bacow:  Total Compensation 2019-2023:  $5 million

• 2023:  $1,757,109
• 2022:  $1,330,220
• 2021:  $1,132,942
• 2020:  $1,224,889
• 2019:  $ 570,072

David J Malan:  Total Compensation 2019-2023:  $6.5 million

• 2023:  $1,381,685
• 2022:  $1,597,747
• 2021:  $1,412,660
• 2020:  $  975,840
• 2019:  $  947,205

Alan Garber:  Total Compensation 2019-2023:  $5 million

• 2023: $1,122,767
• 2022:  $  946,159
• 2021:  $  825,670
• 2020:  $  955,759
• 2019:  $  926,217

Mihir Desai:  Total Compensation 2023:  $1.1 million

• 2023:  $1,089,233

Vilangadu G Narayanan:  Total Compensation 2022-2023:  $2 million

• 2023:  $1,067,819
• 2022:  $  818,425

Srikant M Datar:  Total Compensation 2022-2023:  $2 million

• 2023: $1,026,645
• 2022:  $  982,658

George Q Daley:  Total Compensation 2019-2023:  $5 million

• 2023:  $970,197
• 2022:  $930,138
• 2021:  $896,277
• 2020:  $892,218
• 2019:  $858,969

Claudine Gay:  Total Compensation 2019-2023:  $4 million

• 2023:  $951,373
• 2022:  $879,079
• 2021:  $824,068
• 2020:  $783,399
• 2019:  $487,562

Brian Lee:  Total Compensation 2019-2023:  $3.5 million

• 2023:  $935,672
• 2022:  $847,878
• 2021:  $828,544
• 2020:  $874,077

Diane Lopez:  Total Compensation 2019-2023:  $3 million

• 2023:  $799,702
• 2022:  $679,096
• 2021:  $583,347
• 2020:  $537,551
• 2019:  $438,142

Thomas J Hollister:  Total Compensation 2019-2023:  $3 million

• 2023:  $703,040
• 2022:  $613,934
• 2021:  $613,795
• 2020:  $629,613
• 2019:  $612,569

Meredith Weenick:  Total Compensation 2019-2023:  $3 million

• 2023:  $675,202
• 2022:  $519,197
• 2021:  $484,775
• 2020:  $486,384
• 2019:  $473,123

Harvard paid for first class or charter travel, travel for companions, personal services, health or social club dues or initiation fees, and provided housing or a housing allowance, gross up payments or tax indemnification. To read more detail about these expenses and the non-qualified supplemental retirement plan, see the Form 990, Schedule J, Part III, Supplemental Information.

Harvard provided a $1 million loan to Drew Gilpin Faust , the former President, for the construction of a home. The balance due is $814,000.

Harvard provided a $1 million loan to Michael Smith, a former key employee, for the purchase of a home. The balance due is $797,000.

Harvard provided a $800,o00 loan to Manuel Cuevas-Trisan, an officer for the purchase of a home.  The balance due is $752,000.  In addition, Harvard provided Manuel Cuevas-Trisan a $600,000 loan for a bridge loan. The balance appears to be $0.

Harvard provided a $786,000 loan to Srikant Datar, a key employee for dependent education. The balance due is $29,000 (Note:  this disclosure did not appear on the Form 990, Schedule J in 2021).

Harvard provided a $350,000 loan to Claudine Gay, a key employee, to purchase a home. The balance due is $219,000.

Amy Edmondson, a family member of George Daley, a key employee, received $692,308 as compensation for employment (note: Amy Edmondson is not listed in the above as one of the highly compensated employees).

To read the IRS Form 990 (for the year ending June 30, 2023), click here.