As part of his compensation negotiated earlier this month, incoming UA President Dr. Robert Robbins will be receiving $200,000 annually provided by the University of Arizona Foundation. This compensation is detailed as part of his appointment to Endowed Presidential Leadership Chair, a position with no additional responsibilities or expectations outside of being UA president.
The $200,000 from this endowment brings Robbins’ annual compensation up to $988,000, not including annual and multiple-year, at-risk compensation to be assigned later this year, making him the highest paid university president in state history.
UA Foundation President and CEO John-Paul Roczniak said in an email that this faculty chair endowment “supports the position of president of the UA as defined by the Arizona Board of Regents.”
The creation of this new leadership chair position was approved by the UA Foundation board of trustees, and according to Roczniak, the endowment will also continue to support future UA presidents.
“It’s basically a funding stream rather than a position,” UA Foundation Assistant Vice President for Marketing and Communications Liz Warren-Pederson said, “so it doesn’t have duties and responsibilities that are different than those that have been established by the Arizona Board of Regents for the role of president.”
According to the UA Foundation’s website, endowment funds are a way for donors to give money that will continue to support something of their choosing. The funds are invested and the income from the investment is put toward the endowment’s cause, leaving the principal amount to be reinvested every year. The UA Foundation controls an endowment of approximately $673 million, the most of any public university in Arizona.
“The foundation is committed to raising $5 million to fund this chair in perpetuity and is close to reaching that goal,” Roczniak continued.
Like all other UA Foundation endowments, the position will be funded by donors and not by UA students’ tuition. The contributors to the Endowed Presidential Leadership Chair, however, are unknown.
“There are multiple donors who have committed funding to this endowment,” Warren-Pederson said, “but at this time, they have chosen to remain anonymous.”
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