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May 23, 1996

Highest FY95 salaries were in health sciences

Pitt's highest paid officers and professors during the 1994-95 fiscal year were all from the health sciences.

That fact was confirmed in an Internal Revenue Service form that Pitt filed last week.

According to reporting criteria of the IRS Form 990, Pitt's highest paid employee during the fiscal year that ended June 30, 1995, was Thomas P. Detre, senior vice chancellor for Health Sciences and director of the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic ($412,196 in salary, $68,634 in benefits, $8,220 in expenses and other allowances). The second-highest compensated employee last year was Jeffrey A. Romoff, senior vice chancellor for Health Administration and president of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center ($329,035 in salary, $46,794 in benefits and $10,877 in expenses and other allowances).

Of Pitt's seven other senior administrative officers, the highest paid was then-Chancellor J. Dennis O'Connor ($222,100 in salary, $33,978 in benefits and $6,069 in expenses and other allowances). O'Connor resigned on July 31, 1995.

The salaries of other senior officers were as follows: James V. Maher, provost, $162,500 in salary, $24,097 in benefits and $2,659 in expenses and other allowances.

Ben J. Tuchi, then senior vice chancellor, Business and Finance, $162,186 in salary, $27,827 in benefits and $3,413 in expenses and other allowances. Tuchi resigned on Feb. 19 to become a Katz Graduate School of Business faculty member.

Lawrence M. Weber, then vice chancellor, Institutional Advancement, $158,501 in salary, $30,605 in benefits and $5,530 in expenses and other allowances. Weber resigned Oct. 13, 1995. Robert E. Dunkelman, secretary of the Board of Trustees, $116,394 in salary, $21,597 in benefits and $1,742 in expenses and other allowances.

Leon Haley, vice chancellor, Student and Public Affairs, $88,333 in salary, $13,255 in benefits and $475 in expenses and other allowances.

William W. Harmon, then vice chancellor, Student Affairs, $20,851 in salary, $5,227 in benefits, $700 in expenses and other allowances. Harmon resigned Aug. 31, 1994. He is listed on Form 990 because he was paid for two months in FY95; in FY94 he earned $99,607 in salary.

Pitt's five highest paid non-officer employees last year were: Thomas W. Braun, associate dean and professor at the School of Dental Medicine — $364,321 in salary, $17,772 in benefits, $2,481 in expenses and other allowances.

Ronald B. Herberman, professor of medicine and pathology — $333,059 in salary and $40,001 in benefits.

Charles D. Bluestone, professor of otolaryngology — $314,053 in salary and $37,360 in benefits.

Arthur M. Feldman, visiting professor of medicine — $289,600 in salary and $25,688 in benefits.

Edward J. Benz Jr., professor of medicine — $286,091 in salary, $32,182 in benefits and $4,962 in expenses and other allowances. Benz resigned in spring 1995.

The IRS requires tax-exempt, private corporations to file the Form 990 annually.

In some years, Pitt's form has revealed previously confidential salary data that made headlines — most notably when the University's forms for FY 1990-91 and FY 1992-93 showed that the highest paid Pitt employees during those years were former football coaches Mike Gottfried and Paul Hackett, respectively. Pitt's buyouts of their contracts made Gottfried and Hackett the highest paid Pitt employees during those years, even after they had left the University.

But this year's Form 990 contained no such surprises. And, as usual, it did not necessarily reveal who got the highest total compensation from University-related sources. That's because the Form 990 is limited to salaries, benefits and allowances processed through the Pitt payroll system. The form does not take into account income from clinical practice plans and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center System, Inc. hospitals.

The only reason Braun made the Form 990 lists for the last two years is that, until July 1995, the dental school did not have a separately incorporated practice plan, Pitt Assistant Controller James Vesco said. Therefore, Braun's clinical earnings were processed through the Pitt payroll system. Now that dental faculty have their own practice plan, their clinical incomes will no longer go through the University system, Vesco noted.

In addition to compensation data on Pitt senior administrators and the five highest-paid non-officer employees, the University's Form 990 lists: * The five professional firms that received the highest amounts of money from the University last year.

* Business connections between Pitt trustees and banks to which Pitt owes money.

* Special low-interest mortgages provided by Pitt to University officers.

* Bond indebtedness. At the end of FY 1994-95, Pitt's bond debts totaled $290,056,336.

Two officers, Detre and Romoff, have outstanding balances on special low-interest (5 percent) mortgages obtained through a University benefit for administrators. The program stopped accepting participants in 1991. Participants are not required to repay their mortgages until six months after leaving Pitt. Romoff owes $208,250 on his mortgage. Detre owes $147,050.

According to the IRS form, the five firms paid the highest amounts of money last year were all from Pittsburgh.

Architects Burt Hill Kosar Rittelman received $913,227 primarily for work on the Medical Research Facility and on the Children and Youth Center project at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.

The law firm of Reed Smith Shaw & McClay was paid $445,631, primarily for employment litigation and patent law.

Another law firm, Eckert Seamans Cherin Mellott, received $354,851 for work involving patents, real estate and employee benefits law.

Pitt paid L.D. Astorino Architects, Inc. $354,291, mainly for design work on the Pitt Stadium renovation.

Baker & Associates architects received $339,197 for architectural, structural, mechanical and electrical design services on several projects, including fire alarm and fire prevention systems in 10 Pitt buildings.

Twenty other contractors (not identified on the form) received more than $50,000 each from the University for professional services in FY 1994-95.

The IRS form requires Pitt to list trustees and administrators who are affiliated with lending institutions to which the University owes money on mortgages and notes payable. For FY 1994-95, those persons were: Frank V. Cahouet, a Pitt trustee and director of Mellon Bank Corp.; trustee J.W. Connolly, a Mellon Bank Corp. director; trustee George A. Davidson, Jr., a director of the PNC Bank Corp.; trustee John C. Marous, a member of the Mellon Bank Corp. advisory board; Bradford campus president Richard M. McDowell, a director of Northwest Savings Bank; trustee Thomas H. O'Brien, a PNC Bank Corp. director; former chancellor and trustee J. Dennis O'Connor, a director of PNC Bank, N.A.; Seth E. Schofield, who resigned as a Pitt trustee Sept. 29, 1995, a director of PNC Bank, N.A.; and trustee Thomas J. Usher, a director of PNC Bank Corp.

— Bruce Steele


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