Presidential salary grows 23.7 percent

By Zac Estrada, News Staff

Northeastern President Joseph Aoun’s salary and benefits topped $900,000 in 2009, according to university tax documents (PDF, tax information on page 16), representing a rise of more than $300,000 since he took the leadership helm in 2006.

Aoun’s compensation, according to a tax return for fiscal year 2009, which ran from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009, was reported at $730,662, representing a jump from $697,977 in fiscal year 2008. Moreover, Aoun received $182,321 in “other compensation from the organization and related organizations.” In the same category on the form from the prior year, Aoun took in $39,886.

Northeastern’s top administrator, Aoun is the third highest compensated among college and university presidents of private Massachusetts institutions, according to a Boston Globe report published last month.

Director of Communications Renata Nyul said the university does not comment on personnel issues including salaries.

Boston University President Robert Brown earned $1,043,292 during the most recent tax filing period, while MIT’s Susan Hockfield made $940,227. Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Fawst netted $822,011 in the same period, according to the Boston Globe.

By comparison, Harvard has approximately the same number of students as Northeastern – around 20,000 undergraduate and graduate students – but a significantly larger endowment, $27.4 billion during fiscal year 2009, compared to $501 million according to Northeastern’s Fact Book.

After succeeding former president Richard Freeland when he retired in 2006, Aoun made $589,663 for the year ending in June 2007, according to a November 2008 story by The News. This included rent on a Beacon Hill home and a new Lexus RX400h hybrid-electric SUV.

In his final academic year as president, Freeland received $625,283, about 200 percent more than he made when he was hired in 1995.

Other notable compensation included Entreprenuership Professor Marc Meyer, who earned $534,534 in salary and an additional $21,780 in other compensation.

2008 Documents available here.