President Ruth Simmons received $656,683 in total compensation during the 2009 calendar year, down from $884,771 in 2008. Compensation figures for top officials in 2009, including salaries, bonuses, benefits and deferred compensation, are listed on the Internal Revenue Service's Form 990, which all nonprofits must file each year. The 2009 form reflects some of the effects of the 2008 economic downturn for the first time, including Simmons' salary reduction.
After the financial downturn in 2008, Simmons voluntarily requested a pay cut. But because there is a lag period between the tax filings and the year the report is made available to the public, the cut has not been reflected until this year's report.
"During the crash, many of us voluntarily took salary cuts," said Beppie Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration.
Aside from the significant decrease in Simmons' compensation, the most recent tax filing largely mirrors the previous year's. Though compensation is reported for the 2009 calendar year, the Form 990 contains financial information for the 2010 fiscal year, which began July 1, 2009.
A portion of the funds in the endowment in fiscal year 2010 were rearranged to meet new regulations adopted by the state.
"There is a federal law that says how endowment funds are supposed to be managed and accounted for," Huidekoper said. "Some states adopted one set of rules while others adopted another." Rhode Island adopted new regulations for managing endowments on June 30, 2009. The state used to follow guidelines called the Uniform Management of Institutional Funds Act and now follows the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act.
Huidekoper said the move to UPMIFA by the state will not adversely affect the University's ability to manage its assets.
"It helped with our ratings and gave us more flexibility with our assets," she said.
In 2008, the IRS began recording compensation figures for the calendar year, rather than the fiscal year, making comparisons with earlier years difficult. Both the 2008 and 2009 tax filings reflect this change.
Huidekoper said the University managed to withstand the economic crisis better than many of its peers, largely due to risk assessments conducted just months before the crisis began to take hold. "We had already done a lot of the analysis," she said.
Former provost David Kertzer '69 P'95 P'98 earned $512,771 in total compensation in 2009, up slightly from $508,496 in 2008. Huidekoper earned $425,681 in total compensation, down from $436,024, largely due to a decrease in her deferred compensation.
The highest paid employee in 2009 was Cynthia Frost, vice president and chief investment officer. She earned $1,011,351 in total compensation, up from $899,121 in 2008.
Other top earners in 2009 included more members of the financial office, including Kenneth Shimberg, managing director for private equity, who earned $773,059 in total compensation, down from $834,554 in 2008. David Schofield, managing director for marketing securities, earned $635,067, and Andrew Wert, managing director for marketable securities, earned $640,027.
