UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell poised to make $1.25 million annually

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The new president at the University of Texas at Austin is poised to make $1.25 million a year, $255,000 or about a quarter more than his predecessor, Greg Fenves. The proposed salary must still be approved by the UT System Board of Regents at its meeting this week.

Jay Hartzell was officially named president in late September.

Fenves originally turned down a $1 million salary when offered the top job at UT-Austin in 2015. He was making $995,000 before he left to lead Emory University in Atlanta, according to a UT System spokesperson.

Hartzell is the former dean of the UT-Austin McCombs School of Business. In June, the board approved an annual salary of $795,000 for Hartzell as interim president.

According to the board agenda, Hartzell will retain his appointment as a tenured professor, but will not earn a salary as professor while president. The $1.25 million salary is “all-inclusive,” and he will not receive additional stipends for housing, an automobile or cell phone.

Texas A&M President Michael Young, who is retiring at the end of this academic year, has had a five-year contract that guaranteed him $1 million in annual pay, which made him the third highest paid public university president across the country in 2019, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education’s annual rankings.

Disclosure: University of Texas at Austin and University of Texas at Austin - McCombs School of Business have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.