Amherst College president salary and executive pay
Amherst College paid its president, Michael Elliott, $846,242 for the fiscal year ending June 2025. That is down $21,023 (2.4%) from the fiscal year ending June 2024. Total revenue on that return was $775,712,238, up 79.1% from $433,011,031 for the fiscal year ending June 2024. Amherst College ranks 113th of 137 universities on this site by president's pay. Amherst College has 4 Form 990 returns on record, for fiscal years ending 2022 to 2025.
Last updated from IRS e-file data. EIN 04-2103542, Amherst, MA.
President, fiscal year ending June 2025
$846,242
Highest-paid person, fiscal year ending June 2025
$1,711,834Letitia JohnsonCHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER
- Total revenue
- $775,712,238
- Pay vs. peers
- Higher than 31%
Source: Form 990, fiscal year ending June 2025, IRS object ID 202631329349302793.View the filing
Peers: the 131 other universities on this site. Ranked 91st of 132 by top pay as a share of revenue. Pay is 0.11% of revenue, our calculation from the same return. Revenue is Part I, line 12; peers are compared on their latest full-year returns.
Highest-paid people on the latest return
On the latest return, 8 people were paid more than $500,000, 1 of them more than $1 million.
| Name and title | Total |
|---|---|
| Letitia JohnsonCHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER | $1,711,834 |
| Michael WitmoreDIR-FOLGER SHARESPEARE LIB END 6/24 | $918,189 |
| Michael Elliott President PRESIDENT | $846,242 |
| Lisa RutherfordCHIEF POLICY OFFICER & GEN COUNSEL | $558,847 |
| Michael ThomasCHIEF FIN & ADMIN OFFICER | $555,508 |
Also paid on the latest return: Catherine Epstein (PROVOST & DEAN FACULTY END 6/24), $532,195; Dawn Bates (DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS), $518,920; Elizabeth Cannon Smith (CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER), $507,182; Gregory Prickman (INT DIR-FOLGER SHAKESP. LIB 7-10/24), $485,718; Jack Cheney (PROFESSOR OF GEOLOGY), $479,009; Shane Levy (INVESTMENT OFFICER), $434,630; Austin Sarat (PROFESSOR OF POLI SCI & LJST), $429,369; Thomas Dwyer (ASSOCIATE CFO, FORMER INTERIM CFO), $422,598; Matthew McGann (DEAN OF ADMISSION & FIN AID), $402,105; Angie Tissi-Gassoway (CHIEF STUDENT AFF & DEAN STUDENTS), $336,776; Martha Umphrey (PROVOST & DEAN OF FACULTY EFF 7/24), $332,572; Ruth Taylor-Kidd (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER - FOLGER), $315,078; Stephen Nigro (CONTROLLER), $216,790; Farah Karim-Cooper (DIR-FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIB EFF 10/24), $132,254.
Also listed in Part VII of the latest return, with no pay reported: Mindy Berman (TRUSTEE EFF 7/24), Mary Elizabeth Cisneros (TRUSTEE), Bonnie Barsamian Dunn (TRUSTEE), Naana Frimpong (TRUSTEE), Douglas Grissom (TRUSTEE), Jason Grosfeld (TRUSTEE EFF 7/24), Rejji Hayes (TRUSTEE), Matthew Hulsizer (TRUSTEE), Phillip Jackson (TRUSTEE), Chantal Kordula (TRUSTEE - CHAIR), Simon Krinsky (TRUSTEE), Ji-Yeun Lee (TRUSTEE), David Maclennan (TRUSTEE), David Novak (TRUSTEE), William O'Malley (TRUSTEE), Dwight Poler (TRUSTEE), Christine Noyer Seaver (TRUSTEE), Elizabeth Shelburne (TRUSTEE), Gretchen Sisson (TRUSTEE), Paul Smith (TRUSTEE), Shirley Tilghman (TRUSTEE), Kimberlee Wyche-Etheridge (TRUSTEE).
President's pay by year
Each row is the president on that year's return.
| Fiscal year ending | Name and title | Total | Revenue | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2025 | Michael Elliott President PRESIDENT | $846,242 | $775,712,238 | Filing |
| Jun 2024 | Michael Elliott President PRESIDENT | $867,265 | $433,011,031 | Filing |
| Jun 2023 | Carolyn Martin President PRESIDENT (THRU 7/22) | $806,140 | $379,275,079 | Filing |
| Jun 2022 | Carolyn Martin President PRESIDENT | $868,125 | $604,902,946 | Filing |
How this pay was reported
The parts of each total, as reported on the return for the fiscal year ending June 2025.
Source: Form 990, fiscal year ending June 2025, IRS object ID 202631329349302793.View the filing
| Part VII | Schedule J | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name and title | From org | Other | Base | Bonus | Other | Deferred | Nontaxable | Total |
| Letitia JohnsonCHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER | $1,680,803 | $31,031 | $600,000 | $1,080,000 | $803 | $28,145 | $2,886 | $1,711,834 |
| Michael WitmoreDIR-FOLGER SHARESPEARE LIB END 6/24 | $900,650 | $17,539 | $311,427 | $200,000 | $389,223 | $0 | $17,539 | $918,189 |
| Michael ElliottPRESIDENT | $697,632 | $148,610 | $692,098 | $0 | $5,534 | $82,633 | $65,977 | $846,242 |
| Lisa RutherfordCHIEF POLICY OFFICER & GEN COUNSEL | $445,037 | $113,810 | $442,199 | $0 | $2,838 | $68,875 | $44,935 | $558,847 |
| Michael ThomasCHIEF FIN & ADMIN OFFICER | $504,177 | $51,331 | $502,659 | $0 | $1,518 | $38,931 | $12,400 | $555,508 |
These figures come from Amherst College's Form 990 returns, as the IRS publishes them. The methodology page explains how they're chosen. To report an error, email corrections@ceopaycheck.com.
How Amherst College compares
Ranked 113th of 137 universities by president's pay.
- Previous in this ranking: 112th, Vassar College, $854,501
- Next in this ranking: 114th, University of St. Thomas (Minnesota), $821,274
Closest in revenue among the universities on this site:
Loyola Marymount University$1,237,126 (President), fiscal year ending May 2025
Chapman University$1,897,658 (President), fiscal year ending May 2025
Pepperdine University$1,323,005 (President), fiscal year ending Jul 2025
University of San Diego$1,682,191 (President), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute$1,306,266 (President), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
Common questions
Michael Elliott (PRESIDENT) was paid $846,242 for the fiscal year ending June 2025: $697,632 from Amherst College and $148,610 in other compensation (Part VII columns D and F).
The highest-paid person on the latest return was Letitia Johnson (CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER), at $1,711,834. That is $865,592 more than the president, Michael Elliott.
Amherst College paid its president, Michael Elliott, $846,242 for the fiscal year ending June 2025. That is down $21,023 (2.4%) from the fiscal year ending June 2024. The earliest return on record is for the fiscal year ending June 2022, when the president was Carolyn Martin, paid $868,125. By fiscal year end: June 2022, $868,125 (Carolyn Martin); June 2023, $806,140; June 2024, $867,265 (Michael Elliott); June 2025, $846,242.
Amherst College's return for the fiscal year ending June 2025 reports total expenses of $454,190,460 and total revenue of $775,712,238 (Part I, lines 18 and 12), so revenue exceeded expenses by $321,521,778. Expenses were $419,424,157 for the fiscal year ending June 2024, so they rose 8.3%. The president's pay of $846,242 equals 0.19% of expenses, our calculation.
From the 4 Form 990 returns Amherst College filed with the IRS for fiscal years ending 2022 to 2025. The latest full-year return was filed on May 12, 2026. Schedule J of the fiscal year ending June 2025 return breaks down pay for all 5 people in the pay breakdown above.