How NYU Works

John Sexton's Salary

"This year neither I, nor the deans, nor any senior administrator of the University will receive a salary increase of any sort."
— John Sexton, March 30, 2003

    In March 2003, John Sexton wrote "a report to the NYU community" entitled "Managing Austerity While Seizing Opportunities." In the report, Sexton lamented the fact that economic situations forced NYU to raise undergraduate tuition by 6.9% for fiscal year 2004. He wrote:

We all must be part of ensuring our community's stable and promising future. As we ask our students to invest in our University, we also must ask that each member of the faculty and administration do the same, and I can report a widespread willingness to do so. This year neither I, nor the deans, nor any senior administrator of the University will receive a salary increase of any sort. Moreover, I shall donate five percent of my salary to the University.

In recognition of this year's circumstances, both the Administrative Management Council and the Faculty Senators Council urged that investments in compensation be structured in a way that benefited those for whom times would be the most difficult. Thus, for the year beginning in September, we will budget for a supplement of $750 for each faculty and administrator, other than the university leadership team.(http://www.nyu.edu/about/sexton-enterpriseupdate.html emphasis added)

    Sexton wrote these words mid-way through NYU's 2003 fiscal year-which runs September 1 to August 31-his first full year as NYU President. It’s not clear from NYU documents whether or not Sexton actually received a raise in FY 2003, since he held two different jobs in FY 2002 – Law School dean and University president.

    It is clear, however, that Sexton received a six figure raise between FY 2003 and FY 2004. According to NYU’s tax filings, his salary increased by $122,213 in FY 2004. That’s a 16.5% pay hike for Sexton, in the same year in which students were required to pay a 6.9% tuition increase.

    The chart below shows pay for senior NYU leaders for fiscal years 2003 and 2004. Unlike Sexton, the provost, the senior VP for health and the senior VP for development received no raise FY 2004. Executive VP Jacob Lew received an 8.1% raise – about half of the pay increase received by Sexton.*

As for Sexton's claim that he would donate 5% of his salary to NYU (about $43,000), that can only be verified if he makes his tax returns public.
    According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Sexton received the second highest salary paid to a president of a research university in the US in 2003-4.

For a version of this article with notes, see the PDF.

*Senior VP for Operations Cheryl Mills is not included in this list because her promotion was announced in 2003.