Alex Philippidis Senior News Editor Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

Who in academia is raking it in this year?

Following is a list of 25 current or former senior executives of independent nonprofit research institutes, ranked by total compensation for the most recent two years such information was available as furnished by Form 990s filed annually by each institution with the Internal Revenue Service and made public through Guidestar.org and Foundation Center. In most cases, the most recent years available were fiscal years ending in 2011 and 2010. In isolated cases, no new Form 990s had been made public since last year.

Unlike the first edition of this list last year, the percent change in annual pay for each executive was listed. Perhaps reflecting continued pressure on the institutions and other nonprofits to account for executive pay, 10 of the top 25 compensated executives listed either received below-inflation-rate raises, or were paid less than the previous year.

However, another 10 executives listed saw double- or triple-digit pay raises, some of which included severance or payments from organizations related to the research institutions. In four cases, double- and triple-digit raises followed a promotion or extra responsibilities added on an interim basis.

Also unlike last year, the list was expanded beyond CEOs to include other senior-level executives, such as executive vice presidents, board chairs, and C-suite officers. The expansion explains why the top 11 highest-paid executives in this year’s list received total pay exceeding $1 million, compared with the top four CEOs in the 2012 list.

Executives on the list come from 13 research institutions. HHMI alone accounted for eight people, followed by Sanford-Burnham, Stowers, and the J. William Gladstone Institutes (two each), and one each for the other institutions. In some cases the listed chief executives have been succeeded by others; such leadership changes are detailed in footnotes. FY denotes fiscal year; CY denotes calendar year.

#25. Leland (Lee) H. Hartwell, Ph.D.1

Title: President and Director, 1997–20101

Institution: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

FY ending June 30, 2011: $634,1831,2

FY ending June 30, 2010: $722,0111

% Change: -12.2%

#24. J. Craig Venter, Ph.D.

Title: Founder, Chairman, and CEO

Institution: J. Craig Venter Institute

2011 calendar year: $648,539

2010 calendar year: $645,929

% Change: 0.4%

#23. Richard Hille

Title: Former Executive Director3

Institution: The J. David Gladstone Institutes

2011 calendar year: $699,6534

2010 calendar year: $372,153

% Change: 88.0%

#22. Charles Hewett, Ph.D.

Title: EVP and COO; Interim leader overseeing all administrative, operating, and mouse resources activities and services, 2011–2012

Institution: The Jackson Laboratory

Seven months ending December 31, 2011: $719,2735,6

FY ending May 31, 2011: $599,9945

% Change: 19.9%

#21. Bruce Stillman, Ph.D.

Title: President

Institution: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

2011 calendar year: $745,552

2010 calendar year: $751,839

% Change: -0.8%

#20. Gerald M. Rubin, Ph.D.

Title: VP and Executive Director, Janelia Farm Research Campus

Institution: Howard Hughes Medical Institute

FY ending August 31, 2012: $782,366

FY ending August 31, 2011: $801,717

% Change: -2.4%

#19. Jack E. Dixon, Ph.D.

Title: VP and CSO, 2007–20137

Institution: Howard Hughes Medical Institute

FY ending August 31, 2012: $808,290

FY ending August 31, 2011: $794,421

% Change: 1.7%

#18. Eric S. Lander, Ph.D.

Title: Founding Director and Director of the Genome Biology Program

Institution: Broad Institute

FY ending June 30, 2011: $818,876

FY ending June 30, 2010: $712,468

% Change: 14.9%

Following is a list of 25 current or former senior executives of independent nonprofit research institutes, ranked by total compensation for the most recent two years such information was available as furnished by Form 990s filed annually by each institution with the Internal Revenue Service and made public through Guidestar.org and Foundation Center. In most cases, the most recent years available were fiscal years ending in 2011 and 2010. In isolated cases, no new Form 990s had been made public since last year.

Unlike the first edition of this list last year, the percent change in annual pay for each executive was listed. Perhaps reflecting continued pressure on the institutions and other nonprofits to account for executive pay, 10 of the top 25 compensated executives listed either received below-inflation-rate raises, or were paid less than the previous year.

However, another 10 executives listed saw double- or triple-digit pay raises, some of which included severance or payments from organizations related to the research institutions. In four cases, double- and triple-digit raises followed a promotion or extra responsibilities added on an interim basis.

Also unlike last year, the list was expanded beyond CEOs to include other senior-level executives, such as executive vice presidents, board chairs, and C-suite officers. The expansion explains why the top 11 highest-paid executives in this year’s list received total pay exceeding $1 million, compared with the top four CEOs in the 2012 list.

Executives on the list come from 13 research institutions. HHMI alone accounted for eight people, followed by Sanford-Burnham, Stowers, and the J. William Gladstone Institutes (two each), and one each for the other institutions. In some cases the listed chief executives have been succeeded by others; such leadership changes are detailed in footnotes. FY denotes fiscal year; CY denotes calendar year.

#17. R. Sanders Williams, M.D.

Title: President

Institution: The J. David Gladstone Institutes

2011 calendar year: $851,894

2010 calendar year: $862,505

% Change: -1.2%

#16. Sean B. Carroll, Ph.D.

Title: VP for Science Education

Institution: Howard Hughes Medical Institute

FY ending August 31, 2012: $886,4768

FY ending August 31, 2011: $362,2388

% Change: 144.7%

#15. Richard A. Pender

Title: Managing Director, Global Equities

Institution: Howard Hughes Medical Institute

FY ending August 31, 2012: $923,731

FY ending August 31, 2011: $858,787

% Change: 7.6%

#14. Cheryl A. Moore

Title: EVP and COO

Institution: Howard Hughes Medical Institute

FY ending August 31, 2012: $940,87810

FY ending August 31, 2011: $684,40911

% Change: 37.5%

#13. William R. Brody, M.D., Ph.D.

Title: President

Institution: The Salk Institute for Biological Studies

FY ending June 30, 2012: $946,823

FY ending June 30, 2011: $951,743

% Change: -0.5%

#12. Thomas R. Cech, Ph.D.

Title: Investigator

Institution: Howard Hughes Medical Institute

FY ending August 31, 2012: $985,112

FY ending August 31, 2011: $1,000,204

% Change: -1.5%

#11. Kristiina Vuori, M.D., Ph.D.

Title: President and Interim CEO12

Institution: Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute

FY ending September 30, 2011: $1,011,753

FY ending September 30, 2010: $522,93312

% Change: 193.5%

#10. David A. Welte

Title: EVP and General Counsel

Institution: Stowers Institute for Medical Research

2011 calendar year: $1,032,41413

2010 calendar year: $966,46313

% Change: 6.8%

Following is a list of 25 current or former senior executives of independent nonprofit research institutes, ranked by total compensation for the most recent two years such information was available as furnished by Form 990s filed annually by each institution with the Internal Revenue Service and made public through Guidestar.org and Foundation Center. In most cases, the most recent years available were fiscal years ending in 2011 and 2010. In isolated cases, no new Form 990s had been made public since last year.

Unlike the first edition of this list last year, the percent change in annual pay for each executive was listed. Perhaps reflecting continued pressure on the institutions and other nonprofits to account for executive pay, 10 of the top 25 compensated executives listed either received below-inflation-rate raises, or were paid less than the previous year.

However, another 10 executives listed saw double- or triple-digit pay raises, some of which included severance or payments from organizations related to the research institutions. In four cases, double- and triple-digit raises followed a promotion or extra responsibilities added on an interim basis.

Also unlike last year, the list was expanded beyond CEOs to include other senior-level executives, such as executive vice presidents, board chairs, and C-suite officers. The expansion explains why the top 11 highest-paid executives in this year’s list received total pay exceeding $1 million, compared with the top four CEOs in the 2012 list.

Executives on the list come from 13 research institutions. HHMI alone accounted for eight people, followed by Sanford-Burnham, Stowers, and the J. William Gladstone Institutes (two each), and one each for the other institutions. In some cases the listed chief executives have been succeeded by others; such leadership changes are detailed in footnotes. FY denotes fiscal year; CY denotes calendar year.

#9. David M. Chao, Ph.D.

Title: President and CEO

Institution: Stowers Institute for Medical Research

2011 calendar year: $1,180,91613

2010 calendar year: $1,006,40813

% Change: 17.3%

#8. Robert Tjian, Ph.D.

Title: President

Institution: Howard Hughes Medical Institute

FY ending August 31, 2012: $1,199,437

FY ending August 31, 2011: $1,143,070

% Change: 4.9%

#7. Roderick L. Sturgeon

Title: EVP and CFO

Institution: Stowers Institute for Medical Research

2011 calendar year: $1,209,82113

2010 calendar year: $1,149,15413

% Change: 5.3%

#6. Stephen M. Prescott, M.D.

Title: President

Institution: Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation

FY ending June 30, 2012: $1,249,438

FY ending June 30, 2011: $1,059,638

% Change: 17.9%

#5. Jeffrey M. Trent, Ph.D.

Title: President and Scientific Director

Institution: Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen)

FY ending November 30, 2011: $1,346,435

FY ending November 30, 2010: $1,063,599

% Change: 26.6%

#4. Landis Zimmerman

Title: VP and Chief Investment Officer

Institution: Howard Hughes Medical Institute

FY ending August 31, 2012: $1,357,181

FY ending August 31, 2011: $1,134,467

% Change: 19.6%

#3. Richard A. Lerner, M.D.14

Title: President and CEO, 1991–201214; Researcher, Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, 2012–present Also served as director of predecessor organization, 1987–1991

Institution: The Scripps Research Institute

FY ending September 30, 2011: $1,370,494

FY ending September 30, 2010: $1,370,328

% Change: 0.01%

#2. John C. Reed, M.D., Ph.D.

Title: CEO, 2010-2013; President and CEO, 2002–201015

Institution: Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute

FY ending June 30, 2011: $1,476,406

FY ending June 30, 2010: $1,561,725

% Change: -5.5%

#1. Richard W. Brown

Title: Chairman, Board of Directors

Institution: Stowers Institute for Medical Research

2011 calendar year: $1,780,90213

2010 calendar year: $1,693,29713

% Change: 5.2%

Notes:
1 Succeeded by Larry Corey, MD, as President and Director on January 1, 2011. Dr. Hartwell joined the faculty of Arizona State University, where he established and co-directs the Center for Sustainable Health at ASU’s Biodesign Institute; and is ASU’s second Virginia G. Piper Chair of Personalized Medicine.
2 Because no updated Form 990 has been made public over the past year, the figure is identical to the one found in the GEN List, “20 Top-Salaried Research Institute Leaders,” published September 25, 2012. 
3 Year of departure unavailable.
4 2011 total compensation Includes $250,000 severance payment.
5 Form 990 covers a shorter-than-one-year timeframe to reflect a change of accounting period.
6 Served as interim administrative leader after Richard Woychik, Ph.D., stepped down in January 2011 to join the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences as Deputy Director. A permanent president and CEO, Edison “Ed” Liu, M.D., took office in January 2012. See http://www.jax.org/news/archives/2010/woychik_niehs.html
7 Retired as of June 2013, and has since returned to his lab at University of California, San Diego, where he will continue his research on protein tyrosine phosphatases. See: http://www.hhmi.org/news/jack-dixon-retire-hhmi-vice-president-and-chief-scientific-officer
8 Includes $41,650 in “estimated other compensation from the organization and related organizations.” Winner of the 2012 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science from the Franklin Institute.
9 Named VP for Science Education in September 2010, after serving as an Investigator from 1990–2010
10 Includes $37,709 in “estimated other compensation from the organization and related organizations.”
11 Named EVP and COO as of September 2010, after serving as COO of the Institute’s Janelia Farm Research Campus. See: http://www.hhmi.org/news/cheryl-moore-named-hhmi-s-first-chief-operating-officer
12 Has served as President since April 2010, and as interim CEO since January 2013, when John C. Reed, M.D., Ph.D., resigned to accept position as Head of Roche Pharma Research and Early Development, and member of Roche’s Corporate Executive Committee. See: http://beaker.sanfordburnham.org/2013/01/john-reed-resigns-ceo-accepts-roche/
13 Compensation comes from “related organizations” rather than directly from the institution, according to Stowers’ Form 990 returns for 2011 and 2010.
14 Succeeded by Michael A. Marletta, Ph.D., as President and CEO on January 1, 2012.
15 Resigned as CEO in January 2013 to accept position as Head of Roche Pharma Research and Early Development, and member of Roche’s Corporate Executive Committee. His duties have since been assumed on an interim basis by Kristiina Vuori, M.D., Ph.D. See: http://beaker.sanfordburnham.org/2013/01/john-reed-resigns-ceo-accepts-roche/

Previous articleAdvertorial: Improved Cell Viability Assay Performance Using PrestoBlue®
Next articleBruker Launches Second Phase of SISCAPA-MALDI Collaboration