Daniels’ Incentive Pay Approved

Daniels will serve on the Compensation and the Governance and Nominating committees.

The Purdue University Board of Trustees has approved more than $200,000 in performance-based bonuses for President Mitch Daniels. The board cited continued momentum in affordability, student success, fundraising and institutional reputation as reasons for awarding the "at-risk" funds.

The university says Daniels will receive $201,600 for the fiscal year that ended June 30, in addition to his base pay of $420,000. The amount of "at-risk" funds Daniels received was 96 percent of the maximum amount available and 6 percent more than he received the previous year.

"I’ve said before and I’ll say again: We have an extraordinary institution and an extraordinary president," said Mike Berghoff, chair of the Purdue Board of Trustees. "Our goals, the president’s goals and the goals of the entire Purdue community should be in lock-step, that we are committed to making a Purdue education impactful and transformative, that we are among the best universities in the world in research excellence, and that we are considered among the leaders in all disciplines, and most specifically in the STEM disciplines."

The "at-risk" portion of Daniels’ salary is based on a set of performance goals, the metrics for which are revised each year. Daniels’ contract as president of the university, which was extended last year, runs through 2020.

"In each year of the at-risk pay program, we’ve seen improved results," said Tom Spurgeon chair of the board’s compensation committee. "Annual undergraduate student debt has dropped, cost of attendance s lower, our four-year graduation rate is up and more donors are giving to Purdue. Even with these successes, President Daniels, at his request, remains among the lower third of Big Ten presidents in compensation. Our Purdue students are the beneficiaries of that."