Who are the highest-paid private college and university presidents in Ohio?

Sheridan Hendrix, Columbus Dispatch
·2 min read
Ascension Hall on the campus of Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio on Sept. 17, 2020.
Ascension Hall on the campus of Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio on Sept. 17, 2020.

Two of the top five highest-paid private college presidents reign from Columbus-area schools, but most other local presidents fell much lower on the pay scale.

A Dispatch analysis of 19 Ohio private college and university presidents' compensation packages at local schools and select others from around the state found that most did not exceed $1 million in 2021, the most-recently available year.

Compensation data were compiled using each school's Form 990 — a form filed by most nonprofit entities and reported by the calendar year with the Internal Revenue Service — compiled by ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer database.

In 2021, presidents at Capital University, Columbus College of Art & Design, Ohio Dominican University, Ohio Wesleyan University and Otterbein University earned less than $500,000. Franklin University's full 990 filing was not immediately available.

The only two local presidents to earn more were Denison University President Adam S. Weinberg and and former Kenyon College President Sean Decatur.

Weinberg, who has led Denison since 2013, took home a total $1.2 million in 2021, making him one of the highest-paid private-college presidents in Ohio. About half of his total compensation came from his $594,383 annual base salary, with the rest coming from benefits, other earnings and a $51,000 bonus.

Decatur earned $666,052 in 2021, with the majority of that coming from his $374,424 base salary and a $166,297 bonus. Decatur left Kenyon College in December 2022 to lead the American Museum of Natural History.

The highest-paid Ohio private-college president in 2021 was University of Dayton's Eric F. Spina, who earned more than $1.2 million in total compensation with a nearly $900,000 base salary.

In central Ohio, after Weinberg and Decatur, the highest-paid private-college presidents were: Ohio Wesleyan President Rock Jones with a total compensation package of $457,255; Otterbein University President John Comerford, $418,973; Capital University President David Kaufman, $361,156; Columbus College of Art and Design President Melanie Corn, $345,577; and Ohio Dominican University President Connie Gallaher, $174,103.

Even the highest-paid local presidents have small salaries compared to some of their peers nationally. Stephen K. Klasko, president of Philadelphia’s private Thomas Jefferson University, earned more than $5.3 million in 2021.

Sheridan Hendrix is a higher education reporter for The Columbus Dispatch. Sign up for Extra Credit, her education newsletter, here.

shendrix@dispatch.com

@sheridan120

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Who are the highest-paid private university presidents in Ohio?