OSU president set to earn $1M a year

Drake’s contract runs 5 years

2/3/2014

COLUMBUS — Incoming Ohio State University President Michael Drake will be paid $1 million a year, according to the terms of his five-year contract.

Mr. Drake will receive a base salary of $800,000 a year and $200,000 annually in deferred compensation.

He is also eligible for an annual bonus of $200,000 a year if he meets performance targets and goals.

Mr. Drake earned $401,115 annually as chancellor of the University of California at Irvine, according to that university. He has been chancellor since 2005.

His salary and compensation is about half of his predecessor, E. Gordon Gee, who for several years was the highest paid public university president in the country.

Mr. Drake was elected president by the Ohio State University’s board of trustees on Thursday. The contact was signed Friday.

Mr. Drake, 63, will begin his tenure June 30.

Mr. Drake, who taught at Irvine, was also granted tenure in Ohio State’s College of Medicine, the Department of Ophthalmology, and in the College of Education and Human Ecology.

While Mr. Drake is not expected to teach, he will be given laboratory space and $50,000 annually for research during his tenure as president, the contract said.

He and his wife, Brenda, will receive expenses for moving, first-class seats for air travel, and use of the university’s NetJets account for travel by private plane for university business. He will also receive $1,200 a month for automobile expenses, and the university will pay for a social membership and dues to a country club.

He will receive $12,000 a year for tax and financial planning, and he and his wife will receive university health insurance and other benefits.

Mr. Drake and his wife will reside in the president’s home in Bexley.