University of Pittsburgh officials say Chancellor Patrick Gallagher, who is completing his sixth year at the helm of Pitt, is a keeper and they’d like to make good on his desire to continue in office through retirement.
Eva Tansky Blum, who chairs the Pitt board of trustees, said Gallagher’s performance and commitment to the community are among the factors the board considered when opting to make a deferred $100,000-a-year bonus part of his base compensation and include a 2.25% raise next year that would bring his base compensation to $669,000 a year.
Blum said trustees attempted to settle on a figure in line with chief executives at other public research universities.
“I’ve talked to many of our board members. We are very proud of our chancellor and the progress he has made with our university. He is an outstanding leader. He has exceeded our expectations while transforming the university for the better,” Blum said.
Gallagher, a 56-year-old Pitt-educated physicist, was acting deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce and director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology when Pitt trustees tapped him to succeed retiring chancellor Mark Nordenberg in 2014.
Monday’s vote will bring Gallagher’s total compensation package for 2020 to $828,000.
That still puts him well below head football coach Pat Narduzzi and former men’s basketball coach Kevin Stallings. According to public records filings for the 2017-18 school year, Narduzzi and Stallings were the top earners at Pitt at $3.1 million and $2.4 million, respectively.
