Executive Compensation at University of Chicago (2024)

The University of Chicago (U of Chicago) is a private research university with about 18,000 students (7,500 undergrads and 10,500 graduate and medical students) in Chicago, Illinois.

Approximately 43,000 undergraduate students apply annually; 5% or 2,000 are accepted.  Annual tuition, room and board is about $95,000 or about $380,000 for a 4-year degree.

When analyzing colleges and universities generally, there are 8 key numbers to look at (2024):

• Revenue:  $4.9 billion
• Contributions, Gifts, and Grants:  $2.3 billion
• Tuition and Fees:  $1.3 billion (or % of revenue)
• Investment Income/Gains/Royalties:  $460 million
• Expenses:  $5.2 billion (including $217 million in depreciation)
• Grants:  $630 million in grants to students
• Net Income:  -$359 million
• Net Assets:  $8.5 billion.

When analyzing compensation at colleges and universities, there are 8 key items to look at (2024):

• Total Number of Employees:   24,243 (4,000 less than in 2023)
• Total Number of Employees Receiving More Than $100,000:  4,624
• Total Compensation:   $2.9 billion
• Highly Compensated Employees:   30 employees were reported to be highly compensated (see below):
• Did the school pay for first class or charter travel, travel for companions, health or social club dues or initiation fees, personal services, a personal residence or a housing allowance, discretionary spending accounts gross up payments of tax indemnification, or payments for business use of personal residence: U of Chicago reported paying for first class or charter travel, travel for companions, health or social club dues or initiation fees, a personal residence or providing a housing allowance, personal services, and making gross up payments or tax indemnifications;
• Personal loans to employees:   U of Chicago reported making three (3)  personal loans to a key employee, an officer, and a family member of a former officer. A $1,250,000 loan to Madjav Rajan was made; the balance due is $1,000,000. A $500,000 loan was made to Katherine Baiker; the balance due is $200,000, and a $3 million loan to Shadi Bartsch (the wife of former U of Chicago President, Robert Zimmer);  the balance due is $3 million.  All the loans were for housing.
• Most highly compensated independent contractors and how much did they receive: 1,225 independent contractors received more than $100,000 in compensation (the 5 highest are listed below) and
• Supplemental Retirement Plans:   U of Chicago does participate in retirement and deferred compensation plans (see the Form 990, Schedule J, Part III Supplemental Information for details).

24,243 employees received $2.9 billion in compensation, or an average of $120,000. 4,624 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with the 30 most highly compensated reported to be:

• $4,756,204:  Robert J Zimmer, Former President**
• $2,999,905:  Mark Anderson, EVP, Medical Affairs
• $2,233,021:  Andrew Ward, VP and Chief Investment Officer
• $2,065,736:  Matthew Tirrell, Professor Emeritus
• $1,937,704:  Ivan Samstein, CFO/VP-UC, EVP/CFO – UC MED*
• $1,917,469:  Valluvan Jeevanandam, Chief Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery
• $1,899,536:  A Paul Alivisatos, President
• $1,821,375:  Luca Vricella, Professor of Surgery
• $1,657,919:  Maia Hightower, Staff Scientist
• $1,639,596:  Mary Francis McCourt, Former CFO (left 10/1/23 or 3 months into the fiscal year)
• $1,504,319:  Joanna Rupp, AVP, Managing Director PE
• $1,473,765:  Pradeep Chintagunata, Professor
• $1,183,085:  Madhav Rajan, Dean, Booth School of Business
• $1,154,052:  David Barclay, COO, CRSP*
• $1,113,424:  Kimberly Taylor, VP and General Counsel
• $1,095,656:   Kenneth S Polonsky, Professor
• $1,067,232:  Ka Yee Lee, Provost
• $1,053,415:  Katherine Baicker, Provost
• $   967,279:  James G Nondorf, VP Enrollment and Student Adv
• $   949,250:  Juan DePablo, VP, National Laboratories
• $   755,437:  Armin Afsahi, VP, Alumni Relations and Development
• $   699,277:  Laila Rashid, Associate VP
• $   637,045:  Paul Rand, VP, Communications
• $   636,745:  Michele Rasmussen, VP
• $   566,706:  Lori Berko, VP, Secretary
• $   557,662:  Catherine Callow-Wright, EVP
• $   539,218:  Patrick O’Hara, AVP, COO and Managing Director
• $   500,842:  Erin Lane,VP and Chief of Staff
• $   491,249:  Christian Mitchell, VP Civic Engagement
• $   314,342:  Joel Hamernick, AVP, Civic Engagement

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

“**” Mr Zimmer’s wife, Shadi Bartsch-Zimmer received $579,843 as compensation but is not reported as a highly compensated employee,

As illustrated above, the 30 most highly compensated employees received $40 million in compensation.  20 of the 30, or 67% of the most highly compensated individuals are male while 10, or 33% are female.  Of the 10 most highly compensated individuals at U of Chicago, 8 are male while 2 are female.

The most highly compensated employee was Robert Zimmer who received $4.8 million in 2024; $29 million from 2017-2024:

Robert Zimmer:  Total Compensation 2017-2024:  $29 million

• 2024:  $4,756,204
• 2023:  $3,422,939
• 2022:  $3,813,941
• 2021:  $2,449,016
• 2020:  $2,457,634
• 2019:  $6,865,835
• 2018:  $2,371,617
• 2017:  $3,062,736

U of Chicago paid for first class or charter travel, travel for companions, health or social club dues or initiation fees, and personal services and provided gross up payments or tax indemnification and a housing allowance or residence for personal use.  To read about details of these expenses, refer to the Form 990, Schedule J, Part III, Supplemental Information.

To read the Form 990 (2023 for the year ending 6/30/24), click here.