HANOVER — Dartmouth College President Phil Hanlon’s compensation totaled $1.5 million in 2018, an increase of 5% over the prior year, according to the college’s most recent tax filing.

Hanlon, however, was not the college’s highest-paid employee that year. He made nearly $938,000 less than the $2.4 million that Chief Investment Officer Alice Ruth earned that year, according to the filing.

Ruth, a 1983 Dartmouth graduate who previously served as chief investment officer for the firm advising former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s family office and foundation, marked her first full year with the college in 2018. She succeeded Pamela Peedin, who left in March of 2017 and had been paid a total of $922,000 that year, and $1.3 million for the full year of 2016.

Dartmouth spokeswoman Diana Lawrence, in a Thursday email, noted that Ruth’s compensation in 2018 included a “one-time signing payment.” Ruth’s base salary of $1.07 million was above Hanlon’s $1.04 million base.

“To realize our academic and research mission in a way that distinguishes and differentiates us, Dartmouth is committed to excellence at every level: student, faculty, and staff,” Lawrence said. “That commitment requires investment.”

Ruth, who has since become CEO of the Dartmouth College Investment Office, which is based on the 10th floor of an office building in Boston’s Back Bay, led the college to a 7.5% return on its endowment of $5.7 billion in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019. In addition to managing the endowment, she leads the development of new partnerships for the investment office and cultivates investment opportunities, Lawrence said. Dartmouth officials have not yet announced endowment returns for fiscal year 2020.

Hanlon’s compensation is “mid-range when compared to his counterparts at peer institutions,” Lawrence said. Similarly, she said Ruth’s “compensation is competitive with that of her peers.”

Hanlon, who has been Dartmouth’s president since 2013, had earnings that fell in the middle of the pack of Ivy League presidents in 2018. He earned less than the presidents of Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania and Yale, who earned $4.6 million, $3.8 million and $1.9 million, respectively, according to Bloomberg. But Hanlon’s compensation was above that of the presidents of Brown, Cornell and Princeton, none of whom made more than $1.4 million. Harvard President Lawrence Bacow took office in July 2018 and was paid $600,000 that year.

Meanwhile, compensation for investment officers at the Ivies varied widely. Brown’s President Christina Paxson earned slightly more than the $1.27 million earned by Brown’s chief investment officer. But Princeton’s Andrew Golden, who leads the Princeton University Investment Co., earned a total package of more than $6.3 million, well above Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber’s earnings of $1.1 million. Princeton last reported an endowment of $26.1 billion.

Ruth is not the only member of Dartmouth’s investment team to show up on the most recent Form 990 tax filing. Kelsey Morgan, who is now the chief investment officer, also earned more than $1 million in total compensation; Michael Sullivan, a managing director in the investment office, earned a total of $870,400; Megan Hammond, who was then another managing director in the office, earned $828,500. Hammond has since left Dartmouth.

The list of top earners from 2018 also includes several former Dartmouth leaders, including former Provost Carolyn Dever, who earned a total package of $877,000 that year. Dever had stepped down as provost in November 2017 but remains a professor at Dartmouth. Other top earners included Dean of the Tuck School of Business Matthew Slaughter, who earned $857,000, and Norris Cotton Cancer Center Director Steven Leach, who earned $859,000.

While more recent compensation information is not yet available, some of Dartmouth’s high earners including both Hanlon and Ruth have taken COVID-19 pandemic-related pay reductions this year.

Dartmouth saw a pandemic-related operating loss of $36 million for the fiscal year that ended June 30. It is currently projecting an $83 million loss for the current fiscal year due to lost revenue and increased expenses due to the pandemic, but losses could range between $70 million to $125 million, Lawrence said. Ongoing cost-cutting of $50 million across the institution is expected to mitigate much of the loss. The rest will come from reserves, she said.

Dartmouth isn’t alone. Bloomberg reported in July that half of the eight Ivy League presidents have taken pay cuts due to pandemic-related fiscal problems. For his part, Hanlon, in April, announced that he would give 20% of his salary for the subsequent 12 months to the Dartmouth College Fund, which is primarily used for financial aid. Ruth has volunteered to give back 15% of her compensation, Lawrence said.

Joseph Helble, who became provost in October 2018 after serving as dean of the Thayer School of Engineering, earned a total of $565,000 that year. He and Executive Vice President Rick Mills, who made $728,000 that year, also gave back 20% of their salaries to the school this spring.

Hanlon’s $1.5 million compensation in 2018 was higher than the $1.3 million paid to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health President and CEO Joanne Conroy, who took office in the summer of 2017.

Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.

Clarification

Alice Ruth, the CEO of the Dartmouth College Investment Office, has said she will give back 15% of her pay, including whatever bonus she might receive this year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. An earlier version of this story misstated what compensation was involved.

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