David Jesse, Detroit Free Press

Interim athletic director fifth-highest paid at university

The head of the University of Michigan health system is the highest paid employee of the public university, according to the annual salary report released today.

Michael Johns, the interim head, was on the books with a $769,080 salary on Nov. 1, the date on which the report is based.

U-M President Mark Schlissel is the second-highest paid, at $750,000.

The report lists all the employees paid by the university at all three of its campuses – Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint.

Several of the highest-paid U-M employees aren't paid by the university's general fund, where taxpayer dollars go. That includes Johns. The other high-profile employees not paid for by the general fund are in the athletic department.

The resignation of athletic director Dave Brandon, who left Oct. 31, means the highest-paid athletic department employee is interim athletic director James Hackett, who has a $600,000 salary. Brandon was set to earn $900,000 this year.

This list doesn't include any extra money employees might earn. For example, basketball coach John Beilein gets $350,000 in university salary. He gets another $2.6 million in additional compensation, including various bonuses.

Faculty salary increases at the U-M Ann Arbor campus for 2014-15 averaged 2.9%. Salary increases for staff averaged 2.2%. Merit salary increases for executive officers averaged 2.3%. Merit increases for deans averaged 2.5%, the school said.

Here's the Top 10 paid employees:

1. Michael Johns, interim head of medical system, $769,080.

2. Mark Schlissel, president, $750,000.

3. Douglas Strong, interim CFO, $639,849.

4. James Woolliscroft, dean of the medical school, $610,611.44.

5. James Hackett, interim athletic director, and Erik Lundberg, chief investment officer, $600,000.

7. Alison Davis-Blake, dean of the business school, $597,212.

8. David Munson Jr., dean of the engineering school, $507,589.

9. Evan Caminker, the former dean of the law school and now a professor, $487,147.

10. Jerry May, the head of the development office, $471,500.

Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterdavidj