Seligman average in presidential salaries

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education's Nov. 6 report on Executive Compensation, UR President Joel Seligman’s earnings ranked him 27th among presidents of universities classified as having a high volume of research and 58th among all private university presidents. 

Seligman’s total compensation for the 2007-08 fiscal year was $671,100. This constitutes $639,495 in salary and $31,666 in benefits, with $55,828 in additional funds for an expense account.

This figure varies at peer institutions. The median salary of presidents of private research institutions was $627,750 in the 2007-2008 fiscal year, a 5.5 percent increase over the year before.

According to the New York Times, the Chronicle survey found that “the median pay for presidents of the 419 private colleges and universities surveyed was $358,746, a 6.5 percent increase over the previous year. Over the last five years, the median presidential pay, adjusted for inflation, grew by 14 percent.”

Nearby college and university presidents earn similar amounts — Rochester Institute of Technology’s President William Destler’s total compensation was $711,598; his predecessor, Albert Simone had a total compensation of $1,661,675 for the 2006-2007 fiscal year. 

St. Johns Fisher College’s and Nazareth College’s of Rochester’s presidents earn about half that of Seligman. These are far smaller institutions whose the presidents earn at comparative rates in terms of per undergraduate and graduate student pay to that of Seligman. 

Seligman's total compensation for 2006-2007 was $617,448. For 2005-2006 it was $584,403. Compared to 2005-2006, Seligman's 2007-2008 salary represents a 14.8 percent  increase. 

Otis is a member of
the class of 2011.