Stephanie Wang

stephanie.wang@indystar.com

How much money does the leader of an elite Catholic university make? The guy who calls the shots at a private university with rising athletic prowess? The chief of a private liberal arts college tucked away in small-town Indiana?

The Chronicle for Higher Education released this week the salaries of presidents of private colleges across the nation. The compensation figures from 2012 include base salaries and perks paid out that year such as retention bonuses.

Out of 537 leaders at 497 private colleges, 36 presidents netted $1 million or more, the Chronicle reported. But none of those came from Indiana.

Here's a look at the salaries of 16 Indiana private college presidents.

16. James E. Brenneman

President of Goshen College

2012 total compensation: $160,992

Brenneman has led the private Christian liberal arts college in northeast Indiana since 2006. He attended Goshen College as an undergraduate, graduating in 1977.

His base pay of $94,324 made up only about 60 percent of his total pay that year -- the smallest percentage among these 16 Indiana college presidents.

15. Robert L. Manuel

President of the University of Indianapolis

2012 total compensation: $173,945

14. Beverley Pitts

Former president of UIndy

2012 total compensation: $216,715

These compensation figures represent partial pay years for both Manuel and Pitts, because 2012 marked a leadership transition at UIndy. Manuel became UIndy's ninth president in July 2012, succeeding Pitts. She retired after seven years heading UIndy as the college's first female president.

13. Eugene B. Habecker

President of Taylor University

2012 total compensation: $246,619

Habecker has been president of the Christian liberal arts college in Upland since 2005. He holds a degree from the college as a Class of 1968 alumnus.

He formerly served from 1981 to 1991 as president of another private college in Indiana, Huntington University, where a dining hall now bears his name.

He also spent more than a decade as president of the American Bible Society.

12. Patrick E. White

Former president of Wabash College

2012 total compensation: $265,392

White was president of Wabash College in Crawfordsville for seven years.

He left Wabash College in 2013 to lead Millikin University in Decatur, Ill.

He served at first in an interim capacity, but within months, Millikin trustees decided to keep him on as president.

Wabash College -- one of the few all-male schools in the country -- is now led by Gregory D. Hess.

11. Carol Ann Mooney

President of Saint Mary's College

2012 total compensation: $280,650

Mooney has led the women's college in Notre Dame since 2004.

She is the college's first lay alumna president, having obtained her bachelor's degree from Saint Mary's in 1972.

Mooney was vice president at the University of Notre Dame before moving to Saint Mary's, Notre Dame's sister school.

10. Jo Young Switzer

Former president of Manchester University

2012 total compensation: $295,091

Switzer headed Manchester, a liberal arts university in Northern Indiana, for a decade. She retired this year.

Switzer had risen to become president after serving as Manchester's vice president and dean for academic affairs, and was former chair of the Department of Communication Studies.

Manchester is now led by Dave McFadden, who is in the first year of his presidency.

9. James G. Moseley

President of Franklin College

2012 total compensation: $299,774

Franklin College is searching for a new president, with Moseley set to retire in June 2015.

Moseley, the school's 15th president, has served a 13-year tenure leading Franklin College, 20 minutes south of Indianapolis.

The Chronicle also reported he earned $121,209 in deferred compensation, set aside in 2012 to be paid out later.

8. Henry L. Smith

Former president of Indiana Wesleyan University

2012 total compensation: $302,929

Smith was president of Indiana Wesleyan from 2006 to his retirement in 2013.

Based in Marion, Indiana Wesleyan boasts the largest enrollment among private universities in Indiana. It caters to adult and online learners.

David Wright is now president of Indiana Wesleyan.

7. Sue DeWine

President of Hanover College

2012 total compensation: $311,198

DeWine has been president since 2007.

She announced earlier this year that she will retire at the end of the 2014-15 academic year.

Hanover College, along the Ohio River in Southern Indiana, is the state's oldest four-year college.

Trustees are searching for her successor.

6. Thomas A. Kazee

President of the University of Evansville

2012 total compensation: $335,958

Kazee is the University of Evansville's 23rd president, having taken office in 2010.

The Chronicle also lists him earning $153,669 in deferred compensation.

5. John David Dawson

President of Earlham College and Earlham School of Religion

2012 total compensation: $356,260

Since 2011, Dawson has led Earlham College, a Quaker-founded liberal arts school in Richmond. He is the college's 17th president.

He also leads its graduate seminary.

The Chronicle calculated it would take nearly nine students paying the full sticker price of tuition to cover Dawson's compensation.









4. Mark A. Heckler

President of Valparaiso University

2012 total compensation: $394,817

Heckler has been president of Valparaiso in Northwest Indiana since 2008.

He was out-earned in 2012 by the school's associate director for athletics, Homer Drew, who made $637,345.

Heckler's salary put him in the middle of the pack for private college presidents' compensation. He earned more than 51 percent of presidents in the report.

3. Brian W. Casey

President of DePauw University

2012 total compensation: $487,972

Casey became president of the private university in Greencastle in 2008. He is the university's 19th president.

He attended Notre Dame for his undergraduate education and was captain of the varsity swim team.

In 2012, he earned a $100,000 bonus, in addition to $101,080 set aside in deferred compensation, the Chronicle reported.

2. James M. Danko

President of Butler University

2012 total compensation: $490,267

Danko became president of Butler, home of Indianapolis' beloved basketball Bulldogs, in 2011.

In 2012, then-Butler basketball coach Brad Stevens earned about $1.17 million, more than twice as much as Danko, the Chronicle reported.

The Chronicle also calculated that Danko earned about 5.5 times the average salary of full professors at Butler.

1. Rev. John I. Jenkins

President of the University of Notre Dame

2012 total compensation: $830,119

Jenkins, who has been president since 2005, has his salary paid directly to his religious order, the Congregation of the Holy Cross. Still, his total compensation has been climbing, from $476,325 reported by the university's student newspaper in 2006.

He was only the seventh highest-paid employee at Notre Dame that year, and the Chronicle calculated it would take almost 20 students paying the full sticker price of tuition to cover Jenkins' compensation.

Jenkins' salary is comparable to that of Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie, who made $853,188 in 2013. According to the Chronicle, Jenkins' total compensation ranked 54th in the country among private college presidents.

Call Star reporter Stephanie Wang at (317) 444-6184. Follow her on Twitter: @stephaniewang.