Million-Dollar Man

If the CEO of any business became a millionaire overnight by a vote of the board, you would have heard about it by now. When a college president achieves this feat, though, it gets covered by—the college newspaper.

George Washington “University President Steven Knapp’s salary surpassed the $1 million mark for the first time in fiscal year 2009, landing him in the top-paid tier of university presidents nationwide,” Chelsea Radler reported in the GW Hatchet Online. “Knapp earned $905,277 plus $148,359 in other benefits, according a financial disclosure document GW files to the IRS – a University spokeswoman Candace Smith said a Board of Trustees compensation committee determined the salary using information from an independent consulting firm, which included data from comparable universities and took Knapp’s skills and experience into account.”

“Knapp’s salary is ultimately approved by the Board.”

Malcolm A. Kline is the Executive Director of Accuracy in Academia.

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