What The Dean & Top-Paid Faculty Earn At Harvard Business School

Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datar was the third highest-paid person at Harvard University in 2021

Harvard Business School Dean Srikant M. Datar pulled down nearly $1 million in compensation in 2021, the latest year for which figures are available, making it virtually certain that his total pay now exceeds $1 million annually. Compensation at that level would almost certainly make Datar the highest-paid dean of a business school today. His actual compensation in 2021 totaled $982,658, according to public filings.

In fact, Dean Datar, who became the 11th dean of HBS in early 2021, made more money than Harvard University Provost Alan M. Garber, whose 2021 compensation was $946,159. Only two other officials at Harvard made more than Datar: David J. Malan, a computer science professor, whose compensation totaled $1,597,747, and outgoing University President Lawrence S. Bacow who made $1,330,200.

Harvard disclosed the earnings of 27 of the highest-paid administrators and faculty members in annual Form 990 tax filings on Friday, as required by the Internal Revenue Service for all tax-exempt organizations. Five of the  were affiliated with the Harvard Business School.

HIGHEST-PAID FACULTY AT HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL IN 2021

Linda A. Hill, chair of the school’s leadership initiative, made $829,843.

Oftentimes, the compensation reported to the IRS includes deferred income, retirement payments, and the value of different perks, including housing. The year’s highest-paid Malan, for example, earned $1.16 million in other reportable compensation while making $389,856 in base salary.

The highest-paid HBS professor in 2021 was V.G. Narayanan, a professor of managerial accounting and chair of the MBA elective curriculum. His compensation? A whopping $858,425, about $90,000 less than the dean.

The highest-paid female faculty member was Janice Hammond, a professor of manufacturing and the senior associate dean for culture and community. She pulled down $833,393. Not far behind her was Linda A. Hill, chair of the school’s leadership initiative, who made $829,843.

A YEAR EARLIER, TWO FACULTY MEMBERS HAD REPORTED COMPENSATION EXCEEDING $1 MILLION

Nitin Nohria, who stepped down as dean at the end of 2020, earned $825,732. Karen Gordon Mills, a senior fellow at Harvard Business School and a leading authority on U.S. competitiveness, entrepreneurship, and innovation, took home $204,451, according to the filing.

While the 2021 numbers may look large, they are comparatively puny next to what some Harvard Business School professors bagged a year earlier. Several had compensation exceeding a million dollars, in large part due to retirement agreements and deferred pay.

Kash Rangan, former chair of the school’s marketing department and now an emeritis professor, had reported compensation of $1,456,320 in 2020. Lynn Paine, a former senior associate dean now emerita, was at $1,936,599. Both retired with a lump sum payment in what Harvard called “a retirement incentive program.”

A year earlier, Harvard also disclosed that it had given Nohria a $67,000 loan for a “dependent’s education.” At the time, Nohria had a balance on the loan of $48,000. The school estimated the value of Nohria’s residence on campus at $87,171, a non-taxable benefit. His total compensation in 2020 was $915,252.