What Didn’t Work: Tongue-Tied at the Top

Meanwhile, Ladner’s compensation mushroomed. In 1997, then board chair William I. Jacobs renegotiated Ladner’s employment contract without asking the board to authorize the agreement. The new contract added lucrative incentives so that by 2004, Ladner’s total compensation had grown to some $880,000—more than that of most university presidents. Nevertheless, in that same year Ladner asked then board chair George Collins for an additional $3 million to $5 million in compensation. An excellent strategist and communicator, Ladner had indeed strengthened the university, expanded its global reach, and improved the quality of both the faculty and student body. But Collins knew that Ladner’s request for more pay would anger many trustees, and so he did not tell the board about it.