By SUSAN JONES

When the Board of Trustees voted to hire Joan Gabel as Pitt’s next chancellor and to set her base pay at $950,000 annually, many on campus were surprised by the large increase in salary from what current Chancellor Patrick Gallagher is making.

Pitt Board of Trustees Chair Doug Browning said it became clear that Pitt’s executive salaries had fallen behind its peers — with some of those schools hiring new leaders at base salaries as much as $275,000 more than Gallagher’s, which is $698,202 for 2023.

Gallagher said in a recent interview with the University Times that Pitt “did the right thing” in offering Gabel the higher salary, and “they are acting entirely consistent with the way they acted with me.”

“When I was hired, the board looked at what other AAU public university presidents were making, and they did a statistical analysis and I was at the median,” Gallagher said. “And that's about exactly what they did for Joan. The big difference is that the market has moved a lot and a lot of that has to do with the turbulence in higher education. … There's a lot of competition for top talent. And the fact that Pitt was able to successfully recruit another public sitting AAU president is remarkable. And that wouldn't have happened if Pitt wasn't willing to be competitive.”

It will bring Gabel’s salary closer to that of the highest-paid academic on campus — Anantha Shekhar, senior vice chancellor for health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine — who was hired in 2020 with a base salary of $1 million, along with five $100,000 payments in annual deferred-retention incentives he will receive if he remains in the position until May 31, 2025. Shekhar also is eligible for annual performance bonuses — a minimum of $300,000, up to a maximum of 40 percent of his then-current salary.

The highest-paid people on campus continue to be football coach Pat Narduzzi and men’s basketball coach Jeff Capel. In the 2020-21 fiscal year (the most recent figures available), they earned $3.97 million and $3.47 million in base pay, respectively.

While some of Pitt’s public university peers in the Association of American Universities pay their leaders in the same ballpark of what Pitt’s incoming chancellor will make, only a few top that rate, and several are considerably lower, according to information the Chronicle of Higher Education published in August 2022 based on 2021 salaries.

Gabel started at the University of Minnesota before the 2019-20 school year with a $640,000 salary and yearly supplemental retirement payments that started at $150,000, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press. A contract approved in December 2021 gave her $662,863 for the 2021-22 academic year and $705,953 for 2022-23.

In comparison, more than 20 private AAU universities reported paying their leaders a base salary above $950,000 in 2019 — the latest year reported by the Chronicle for private schools — including Pitt’s neighbor, Carnegie Mellon University. CMU President Farnam Jahanian had a salary of $983,641 in 2019.

When Penn State hired Neeli Bendapudi as president in 2022, it offered her a package very similar to what Gabel will make at Pitt. Her base salary was set at $950,000, along with $350,000 annually in supplemental retirement contributions, a $100,000 transition payment due in July 2022, and a payment of $1.25 million if she remains at Penn State when her contract expires in 2027. Her predecessor, Eric Barron, made $861,966 during his last year at Penn State.

Gabel will receive $1 million — five annual $200,000 deferred retention-incentive payments — if she stays at Pitt until June 30, 2029. Gallagher had a similar retention package, but for only $100,000 annually for a total of $500,000. In addition, Gabel will be eligible to receive $100,000 retention payments on the third, fourth and fifth anniversary of her start date.

The University also will match Gabel’s retirement contributions at 150 percent — as it does with all Pitt employees who contribute 3 to 8 percent of their salary — and provide supplemental funds to reach $150,000. For instance, if Gabel contributes 8 percent of her salary — $76,000 — to the Defined Contribution Plan, Pitt’s normal match would be $114,000. Under the contract, Pitt would pay her another $36,000 to reach $150,000 annually.

Below is the base salary for leaders of some AAU public universities for 2021, as reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education in August 2022. Information in parentheses is from University Times research.

• University of Texas at Austin, Jay Hartzell — $1.18 million

• Michigan State, Samuel Stanley Jr. — $1.12 million (Stanley stepped down in October 2022)

• University of Florida, W. Kent Fuchs — $957,993 (Ben Sasse replaced Fuchs in February at a base salary of $1 million)

• University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Mark Schlissel — $901,849 (Santa Ono started as president in October 2022 at a base salary of $975,000)

• University of Washington, Ana Mari Cauce — $852,603

• University of Buffalo, Satish Tripathi — $721,130

• University of Oregon, Michael Schill — $720,000 (Oregon announced a new president, John Karl Scholz last month, who will make $725,000 when he starts in July.)

• University of Maryland at College Park, Darryll Pines — $686,437

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Robert Jones — $670,718 (Illinois system President Tim Killeen was paid $835,000 in 2021)

• Purdue, Mitchel Daniels Jr. — $641,619

• UNC-Chapel Hill, Kevin M. Guskiewicz — $617,403

• University of Missouri, Mun Choi — $615,796

• University of Wisconsin at Madison, Rebecca Blank — $592,053 (Wisconsin hired a new chancellor in 2022, Jennifer Mnookin, who makes $750,000 a year.)

• University of Colorado at Boulder, Philip DeStefano — $477,651 (University of Colorado system President Todd Saliman earns $850,000 annually)

Several AAU schools, including Pitt, did not submit data for the Chronicle of Higher Education report. Below are salary figures that the University Times found in its research.

• Georgia Tech, Ángel Cabrera — $980,000 for 2022-23

• Ohio State, Kristina Johnson — $927,000, as of September 2022

• University of Virginia, Jim Ryan — $851,681 for 2022-23

• University of Arizona, Robert Robbins — $792,241, as of December 2022

• Indiana University, Pamela Whitten — $650,000 for 2021-22

• University of California, many campuses — President salaries range from $522,000 to $640,000; UC system President Michael Drake was hired in 2020 at a salary of $856,000.

Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.

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