Former Iowa State President Leath making almost $100K more at Auburn

Former Iowa State University President Steven Leath is earning nearly $100,000 a year more in his new role as president of Auburn University, which also is making him whole for the nearly $1.2 million in deferred compensation he forfeited when leaving Ames.

Leath, who departed ISU in May after more than five years and officially started his duties July 15 in Alabama, is earning a base annual salary of $625,000 - or more than $83,000 above the $541,600 his Auburn predecessor was earning when he left.

At ISU, Leath was making a base salary of $525,000. His University of Iowa counterpart - President Bruce Harreld - earns a base salary of $590,000. University of Northern Iowa President Mark Nook earns an annual salary of $357,110.

When Leath resigned from ISU, he left on the table two deferred compensation payouts worth $1.18 million.

But according to his new five-year contract, Auburn for three years will make $250,000 annual payments to a supplemental retirement plan 'as an incentive for Leath to remain at Auburn for the full five-year term of this agreement.”

The program also will be seeded with $500,000 'in order to offset the funds he would have received under his prior contract if he had completed the full term of the contract with his previous employer.”

That puts the value of the deferred retirement program - if Leath stays for the five-year contract - at $1.25 million.

His new base salary would have placed him at No. 26 in the nation among public university presidents in the 2015-16 budget year, according to a Chronicle of Higher Education analysis of executive compensation at private and public colleges published in June.

Leath's total compensation in 2015-16 was $567,971, ranking him No. 69 out of 254 executives. Harreld's total compensation ranked him at No. 61 that year, according to the Chronicle analysis.

Last summer, with Iowa's Board of Regents facing floundering state funding and last-minute tuition hikes, Leath and Harreld requested no annual pay raises despite positive performance reviews. Harreld and Nook this summer made the same request.

Auburn's contract with Leath reports the trustees there considered several factors in establishing his compensation, including other presidents' pay, his duties and qualifications, and 'the need to offer competitive remuneration to attract an individual such as Leath who is currently successfully employed in a high position at another university of significant size and national standing.”

During Leath's time at ISU, which began in January 2012, he saw enrollment continue to grow, a total of 18 percent during his years there. At the time of Leath's departure, the university's retention rate was at 88.1 percent and its six-year graduation rate was at 74.1 percent - both 10-year highs. Its research funding and overall fundraising had achieved record levels.

Still, Leath spent much of his last year weathering controversy over his use - sometimes personal - of ISU-owned aircraft.

Audits and inquiries into ISU's flight operation led to a public reprimand from the regents, an apology from Leath and changes to ISU Flight Service.

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