For the 2023-24 financial year, President Carmen Twillie Ambar received $554,146 filed under Bonus and Incentive Compensation in Oberlin’s tax documentation, bringing her total compensation from Oberlin College to almost $1.5 million. The claim was filed in Oberlin’s Federal Tax Form 990, which covers tax-exempt organizations and is available as part of public disclosures. Since President Ambar started her current position at the College in 2017, she has never before received Bonus and Incentive Compensation, according to past filings.
“The increase in reported compensation you see from 2023 to 2024 is not a bonus for a single year’s performance nor does it represent President Ambar’s base pay,” Director of Media Relations Andrea Simakis wrote in a statement to the Review. “It is the payout of five years’ worth of accrued, deferred compensation that includes retirement benefits.”
Simakis said the additional compensation reflects a practice used to incentivize administrators to stay in a position.
“Deferred compensation, also known as a vesting plan, is standard throughout the higher ed world and is used to encourage presidents to stay in their jobs to ensure stable, consistent leadership for institutions like Oberlin year after year,” Simakis said.
President Ambar’s base pay for fiscal year 2023 was $618,090, reflecting a major raise from the previous year. In previous years, her salary has been around $500,000 with moderate raises each year.
President Ambar’s total compensation is considerably higher than other liberal arts college presidents. However, her base pay appears fairly typical.
In 2023, Kenyon’s former President Jeffrey Bowman earned $389,175 in total compensation, Baldwin Wallace’s former President Robert Helmer earned $513,159, and, in 2022, Denison’s Adam Weinberg earned $1,038,791. At schools outside of Ohio, Grinnell President Anne Harris earned over $788,000, Macalester President Suzanne Rivera earned a little over $680,000, Vassar President Elizabeth Bradley received $820,158, and Hamilton’s David Wippman earned a little over $1 million, according to each institution’s most recent 990 filing. For all of these College presidents, the total compensation included no money as part of their bonus and incentive compensation and mostly accounted for their base pay and other benefits.
President Ambar’s pay raise made her pay comparable — if only for one year — with presidents of Ivy League institutions. Harvard’s former President Lawrence Bacow earned over $1.75 million in 2022, and, in 2023, Princeton’s Christopher Eisgruber earned over $1.5 million. Both of them, however, did not earn any bonuses, and the total includes their base compensation and retirement benefits, as well as other benefits given by their institutions. By contrast, Ambar’s high total compensation mostly reflects additional pay she does not typically receive.
Ambar’s overall compensation also includes $138,203 in “retirement and deferred compensation” and $10,062 in “other reportable compensation.” Simakis said “other compensation” includes President Ambar’s residence in the President’s House, where she is contractually obligated to live and where College functions occur frequently.
President Ambar was not the only administrator to receive extra pay last year. Chief Investment Officer Jun Yang received $393,681, and Associate Director of Investments Katarzyna Karapuda received $53,398. Yang typically receives a considerable portion of his compensation in benefits and incentives.
“Investment officers are typically paid based on the performance of the endowment,” Simakis said. “A bonus structure for chief investment officers is standard throughout higher education.”
