ANNAPOLIS – Donald N. Langenberg, the chancellor of the University System of Maryland, earns a hefty six-figure salary making him the highest-paid state employee.
All of his $359,570 in annual earnings comes from Maryland taxpayer money, including state and tuition funds.
But eight state employees reap bigger paychecks, dropping Langenberg to ninth overall among the top-100 highest paid employees in terms of earned dollars, according to figures compiled by the University of Maryland and the state Office of Personnel Services and Benefits at the request of Capital News Service.
Dr. Bartley P. Griffith, a surgery professor at the School of Medicine at the University of Maryland Baltimore, tops the list with a compensation package of $620,001. Dr. Donald E. Wilson, dean of the School of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs, is making $490,780 this year.
The two men are representative of a select group of state employees — mostly faculty members and researchers at the university’s health care schools – – who generate a majority of their earnings through patient care, or research grants and private sources, including gifts and endowments.
“Only 10 percent of the operating budget in the School of Medicine comes from the state,” Langenberg said. “Much of the revenue to cover the salaries comes from the practice of medicine.”
State tax dollars still benefit some top-grossing members of Maryland’s academic community, whose earnings are higher than those of the governor, judges and secretaries of state agencies — a trend unchanged from 1990, according to CNS analyses then and now.
One salary, in particular, has raised more than a few eyebrows in recent weeks.
William “Brit” Kirwan, the incoming chancellor, will earn a $375,000 base salary and a reported $100,000 in other compensation, exceeding the salary of Langenberg, who is retiring.
“It’s one of the most important positions in terms of the future of the state,” said Gov. Parris N. Glendening, who had expressed interest in the position earlier this year. “It’s extraordinarily competitive all across the country. And that is a salary that is needed to attract and retain the very best.”
Outside the academic world, Maryland’s highest-paid state employee is Dr. Sharon Baucom, medical director for the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, at $198,551, according to state records.
Women comprise 11 percent of the top-100 highest-paid state employees, a jump from 6 percent in 1990.
Dr. M. Jane Matjasko, chairwoman of the medical school’s Department of Anesthesiology, remains the highest paid women at $425,948, jumping to fourth place overall from 13th in 11990 when she earned $165,000. But, only 3 percent of Matjasko’s earnings come from state funds.
C.D. Mote, president of Maryland’s College Park campus, is earning $357,998, ranking him 12th. But he is the second-highest-paid state employee whose salary comes solely from Maryland tax dollars. Mote’s counterpart in 1990, Kirwan, made $143,377 and was 27th on the top- 100 list.
Faculty members at the School of Medicine make more money because their earnings are supplemented by outside sources. State funds account for, on average, only 20 percent of their salaries, said Larry Roberts, a school spokesman.
More than half of the 100 top-paid state employees fit this category.
Most of their salaries “are not taxpayers’ dollars,” Roberts said. “This is not comparable to a state employee working for a state agency.”
Griffith, a leading heart and lung transplant surgeon, makes all his earnings through his practice and research at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, even though he also teaches at the medical school. Only 23 percent, or $112,879, of Wilson’s salary comes from state tax dollars.
Such a system, education institution experts say, is common among medical schools across the country.
“If you dig deep down, the University of Maryland or the state pays nothing” toward the salaries of physician faculty members, said Robert Jones, vice president of institutional and faculty studies for the Association of American Medical Colleges.
More often, these faculty members make money for their medical schools through their work as physicians or researchers, Jones said.
If these doctors were in private practice, “they could undoubtedly make more money,” he said. “So they’re forgoing their income for the satisfaction of being in an academic community.”
Still, salaries of state employees have irked some in the public, as lawmakers struggled earlier this month to close a $1 billion budget shortfall next budget year. They only managed to close a quarter of the deficit.
While the Maryland General Assembly approved the largest pay hike for itself in state history — hiking salaries nearly 40 percent to $43,500 by 2006 — lawmakers denied an increase for government workers. The governor’s salary will also jump to $150,000 by 2006 from $120,000, a figure unchanged since 1990.
When Kirwan returns in August, the incoming chancellor will become the highest-earning state employee.
Kirwan will get a $15,430 pay raise, bringing his salary to $375,000, and a reported $100,000 in deferred compensation to offset lost pension income — the details of which the Board of Regents refused to disclose.
He also will have use of Hidden Waters, the state-owned chancellor’s mansion worth more than $1 million, and be allowed to hold paid seats on boards of local corporations, a practice denied Langenberg.
Officials within and outside the university defended Kirwan’s pay package as reasonable because of his 34-year experience at College Park, even at a time when state revenues are down.
The chancellor’s salary is well worth the taxpayer’s dollars, says Kenneth Timmerman of the Maryland Taxpayers Association.
“The chancellor has a major role as a fund-raiser for the Maryland system,” Timmerman said. “It’s appropriate that he’s properly compensated.”
Outside the university sector, state employees in the executive branch are among the highest paid.
In Glendening’s office, Chief of Staff Alvin Collins garners the most state dollars at $160,826.
Dr. Georges Benjamin, secretary of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and Stuart Simms, secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, tie for the highest-paid department heads. They are both making $145,687.
In 1990, the secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services was the highest-paid agency chief with a $108,372 salary. Court of Appeals Chief Judge Robert Bell makes $150,600, a moderate increase from $115,000 that his counterpart made in 1990.