Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman 9/28/2012

Former Princeton University president Shirley Tilghman is shown in her office in this 2012 file photo. Tilghman earned close to $1 million annually as president of the university.

(Martin Griff/The Times of Trenton)

The Chronicle of Higher Education, a national publication covering colleges, surveyed the 2011 tax returns of 500 private colleges to rank the highest-paid college presidents in the nation.

1. Robert J. Zimmer, U. of Chicago (Ill.), $3,358,723

2. Joseph E. Aoun, Northeastern U. (Mass.), $3,121,864

3. Dennis J. Murray, Marist College (N.Y.), $2,688,148

4. Lee C. Bollinger, Columbia U. (N.Y), $2,327,344

5. Lawrence S. Bacow*, Tufts U. (Mass.), $2,223,752

6. Amy Gutmann, U. of Pennsylvania (Pa.), $2,091,764

7. Anthony J. Catanese, Florida Institute of Technology (Fla.), $1,884,008

8. Esther L. Barazzone, Chatham U. (Pa.), $1,812,132

9. Shirley Ann Jackson, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (N.Y.), $1,752,642

10. Richard C. Levin*, Yale U. (Conn.), $1,652,543

New Jersey's top-paid private college presidents:

1. Shirley M. Tilghman*, Princeton University, $935,326 (51st in the nation)

2. Mordechai Rozanski, Rider University, $728,590 (82nd)

3. George P. Korifiatis* (Interim President), Stevens Institute of Technology, $708,729/ for a partial year (89th)

4. Paul G. Gaffney II*, Monmouth University, $668,436 (100th)

5. A. Gabriel Esteban, Seton Hall University, $542,305 (152nd)

6. Robert Weisbuch*, Drew University, $461,927 (205th)

7. J. Michael Adams*, Fairleigh Dickinson University, $393,354 (256th)

8. Nariman Farvardin, Stevens Institute of Technology, $340,081/ for a partial year (321st)

9. Sheldon Drucker (Interim President), Fairleigh Dickinson University, $327,094/ for a partial year (337th)

10. Sister Rosemary E. Jeffries, Georgian Court University, $103,137 (502nd)