For the first time, salaries of Brigham Young University President Rex E. Lee and BYU's five highest-paid employees were disclosed last week in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
The weekly newspaper said Lee was paid $128,135 during the 1991-1992 fiscal year. But BYU spokeswoman Margaret Smoot said that figure is misleading. Included in the salary are a housing allowance, car allowance and other benefits, Smoot said. Benefits listed for Lee - which include health and pension plans - were $3,844.The Chronicle detailed the salaries and benefits of higher education officials at 190 private universities from filings made to the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS began requiring such reports six years ago.
"It is difficult to compare this salary given with other salaries of university presidents in Utah," Smoot said. "It's like comparing apples to oranges because the salary listed for employees of public institutions do not include perks."
University of Utah President Arthur K. Smith earned $130,000 in the 1991-1992 fiscal year. Former Utah State University President Stan Cazier made $106,590 that year (new president George Emert makes $125,008); Weber State University President Paul Thompson made $95,100; and Southern Utah University President Gerald Sherratt made $88,800.
The five highest-paid employees at BYU during the 1991-1992 fiscal year were: Reed M. Izatt, chemistry, $123,458 salary and $1,986 in benefits; Clive D. Jorgensen, zoology, $106,020 salary and $2,061 in benefits; John M. Peterson, mathematics, $103,015 salary and $1,951 in benefits; James W. Cannon, mathematics, $100,715 salary and $2,539 in benefits; and Martin J. MacNeill, health sciences, $100,612 salary and $2,205 in benefits.
Again, Smoot said these salaries are misleading because they don't take into account other income and grants.
According to the Chronicle, BYU football coach LaVell Edwards was one of the highest-paid employees for fiscal 1991-1992 because a one-time annuity payment lifted his income to $150,052. He was not included among BYU's five highest-paid in 1991-1992.
The top earner at the 190 private institutions was Wayne Isom, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Cornell University, who received $1,779,730 in pay and bene-fits in 1991-1992.
The top-paid presidents listed in the Chronicle were from Boston, Columbia and Vanderbilt universities - each making over $400,000 in pay and benefits. Boston University President John Silber was the highest-paid university president. He received $414,715 in salary, bonuses, deferred income and benefits for 1991-1992. The average presidential income listed in the Chronicle was $155,000, including pay and benefits.
The Chronicle also listed an expenditure figure for each institution, which includes the college's total expenses in the fiscal year. The Chronicle said BYU's total expenses were $410 million that year.
Smoot said the school, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is not given a budget of $410 million from the LDS Church.
"That includes all expenditures, including expenditures made by our profit-making entities," Smoot said.