Washington University Chancellor Mark Wrighton

In addition to his $738,242 in university compensation (in 2006), Washington University Chancellor Mark Wrighton makes more than $360,000 from serving on two corporate boards, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education’s annual survey of presidential compensation.

That’s one interesting tidbit that didn’t make it in to today’s story about college presidents’ pay.

Last year, Wrighton made $45,000 a year in cash and $115,950 in stock awards from sitting on the board of the Cabot Corp. He also made $77,000 in cash and $124,123 in stock awards from being on the board of Brooks Automation Inc.

The Chronicle story notes that about one-third of college presidents serve on corporate boards. The advantages of serving on such boards are prestige and having more access to potential donors. But the story also cautions that since serving on boards can be time consuming, it can take away time from a president’s job. Some university boards limit how many boards a president can serve on. And some higher education experts suggest that presidents should serve on no more than two corporate boards. (Until recently, Wrighton was serving on three boards. He was formerly on the board of A.G. Edwards, which became Wachovia Securities.)

Another possible issue the Chronicle highlights is that boards have fiduciary responsibilities, which can be a messy situation given recent accounting scandals.  For example, Henry Bienen, president of Northwestern University, and the Rev. Donald J. Harrington, president of St. John’s University in New York, were both on the board of directors for Bear Stearns.

The Grade is the St. Louis region’s premier blog on education and child welfare. To read other recent posts, go to www.stltoday.com/thegrade.