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Million dollar club: University presidents’ salaries surge

By
Ben Geier
Ben Geier
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By
Ben Geier
Ben Geier
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May 19, 2014, 11:25 AM ET
UNITED STATES - MARCH 18:  E. Gordon Gee, president of Ohio State University, listens to a question during an interview in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, March 18, 2009. Gee wants to double the number of international undergraduate students attending the school. Currently, about 4 to 5 percent of undergraduates who attend the university in Columbus are from outside the U.S., Gee said today in an interview in New York. He would like to increase the number to 8 to 10 percent.  (Photo by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
UNITED STATES - MARCH 18: E. Gordon Gee, president of Ohio State University, listens to a question during an interview in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, March 18, 2009. Gee wants to double the number of international undergraduate students attending the school. Currently, about 4 to 5 percent of undergraduates who attend the university in Columbus are from outside the U.S., Gee said today in an interview in New York. He would like to increase the number to 8 to 10 percent. (Photo by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty

FORTUNE — Nine presidents of public universities made more than $1 million in 2013, more than doubling the total of four who received seven-figure salaries for the 2012-13 period, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The top earner on the list? Gordon Gee, who made $6.1 million in his last year at Ohio State University. That figure includes some severance pay, as Gee has since left the Columbus school and is now president of West Virginia University.

MORE: B-school professors earn that much in speaking fees?

Among those earning more than $1 million per year, the longest tenured is Michael F. Adams at the University of Georgia, who has been in his job since 1997. The most recent appointee: Bowen Loftin, who took the reins at Texas A&M at College Station in 2010. Three women and six men were part of the $1 million club.

The salaries of top employees at public universities, including presidents and athletic coaches, have been the subject of scrutiny in an age of increasing student loan debt.

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