Columbia University president salary and executive pay
Columbia paid its president, Nemat Minouche T Shafik, $1,826,091 for the fiscal year ending June 2025. That is up $667,925 (57.7%) from the fiscal year ending June 2024. Total revenue on that return was $7,512,150,787, up 2.7% from $7,314,092,533 for the fiscal year ending June 2024. Columbia ranks 47th of 137 universities on this site by president's pay. Columbia has 4 Form 990 returns on record, for fiscal years ending 2022 to 2025. Also known as Trustees of Columbia University.
Last updated from IRS e-file data. EIN 13-5598093, New York, NY.
President, fiscal year ending June 2025
$1,826,091
Highest-paid person, fiscal year ending June 2025
$6,866,322Lawrence Gerald LenkePROFESSOR OF SURGERY
- Total revenue
- $7,512,150,787
- Pay vs. peers
- Higher than 4%
Source: Form 990, fiscal year ending June 2025, IRS object ID 202631359349301618.View the filing
Peers: the 131 other universities on this site. Ranked 126th of 132 by top pay as a share of revenue. Pay is 0.02% of revenue, our calculation from the same return. Revenue is Part I, line 12; peers are compared on their latest full-year returns.
Columbia's presidency changed during the fiscal year ending June 2025. Its return lists the former president, a president through August 14, 2024, an interim president and an acting president (at $0); the highest-paid of those with a president title leads.
Highest-paid people on the latest return
On the latest return, 23 people were paid more than $500,000, 12 of them more than $1 million.
| Name and title | Total |
|---|---|
| Lawrence Gerald LenkePROFESSOR OF SURGERY | $6,866,322 |
| Kim LewCEO OF IMC | $5,382,553 |
| Ronald Arthur Lehman JrPROFESSOR OF SURGERY | $3,605,765 |
| Emile BachaProfessor of Surgery | $3,485,425 |
| Craig SmithPROFESSOR OF SURGERY | $3,274,922 |
Also paid on the latest return: Samuel Z Williams (PROFESSOR OF OBSTETRICS), $3,179,451; Lee C Bollinger (PRESIDENT (FORMER)), $1,931,826; Nemat Minouche T Shafik (PRESIDENT (THROUGH 8/14/24)), $1,826,091; Katrina Armstrong (INTERIM PRESIDENT/EVP HEALTH), $1,763,852; Anil Rustgi (INT EVP SCI (FORMER)), $1,289,126; Anne R Sullivan (EXECUTIVE VP FOR FINANCE), $1,113,648; Lee Goldman (EVP HEALTH SCIENCES (FORMER)), $1,106,907; Amelia Alverson (EXEC VP - UNIV DVLP&ALUM RLTS), $960,081; Felice Rosan (GENERAL COUNSEL), $950,625; Angela V Olinto (PROVOST), $937,152; Mary Boyce (PROVOST (FORMER)), $885,007; Dennis Mitchell (INT PROVOST (Former)), $867,433; Ira Katznelson (Int PROVOST (FORMER)), $834,241; Amy Hungerford (EXEC VP-A&S), $831,374; Caswell Holloway (CHF OPR OFCR), $770,687; and 4 more.
Also listed in Part VII of the latest return, with no pay reported: Andrew Barth (TRUSTEE), Dean Dakolias (TRUSTEE), Duchesne Drew (TRUSTEE), Abigail Elbaum (TRUSTEE), Mark Gallogly (TRUSTEE), Keith Goggin (TRUSTEE), James Gorman (TRUSTEE (AS OF 9/3/24)), Joseph A Greenaway Jr (TRUSTEE (THROUGH 9/3/24)), David Greenwald (TRUSTEE), Kikka Hanazawa (TRUSTEE), Wanda Holland Greene (TRUSTEE (THROUGH 9/3/24)), Jeh Johnson (TRUSTEE), Li Lu (TRUSTEE (THROUGH 9/3/24)), Victor Mendelson (TRUSTEE), Adam Pritzker (Trustee), Julissa Reynoso (TRUSTEE (AS OF 9/28/24)), Jonathan Rosand (TRUSTEE), James Scapa (TRUSTEE (AS OF 12/7/24)), Shoshana Shendelman (TRUSTEE), Claire Shipman (Acting Pres (AS OF 3/28/25)), Kathy Surace-Smith (TRUSTEE), Fermi Wang (TRUSTEE), Shirley Wang (TRUSTEE), Alisa Wood (TRUSTEE (AS OF 9/3/24)).
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 | Nemat Minouche T Shafik President PRESIDENT (THROUGH 8/14/24) | $1,826,091 | $7,512,150,787 | Filing |
| Jun 2024 | Nemat Minouche T Shafik President PRESIDENT (AS OF 7/1/23) | $1,158,166 | $7,314,092,533 | Filing |
| Jun 2023 | Lee C Bollinger President PRESIDENT (THROUGH 6/30/23) | $4,994,815 | $6,654,842,677 | Filing |
| Jun 2022 | Lee C Bollinger President PRESIDENT | $3,879,804 | $7,109,530,946 | 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 202631359349301618.View the filing
| Part VII | Schedule J | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name and title | From org | Other | Base | Bonus | Other | Deferred | Nontaxable | Total |
| Lawrence Gerald LenkePROFESSOR OF SURGERY | $6,796,401 | $69,921 | $6,796,401 | $0 | $0 | $40,130 | $29,791 | $6,866,322 |
| Kim LewCEO OF IMC | $3,178,812 | $2,203,741 | $1,089,729 | $2,089,083 | $0 | $2,167,989 | $35,752 | $5,382,553 |
| Ronald Arthur Lehman JrPROFESSOR OF SURGERY | $3,501,009 | $104,756 | $3,498,954 | $0 | $2,055 | $41,051 | $63,705 | $3,605,765 |
| Emile BachaProfessor of Surgery | $3,392,921 | $92,504 | $3,176,499 | $207,806 | $8,616 | $41,373 | $51,131 | $3,485,425 |
| Craig SmithPROFESSOR OF SURGERY | $3,199,206 | $75,716 | $3,137,179 | $62,027 | $0 | $46,000 | $29,716 | $3,274,922 |
| Nemat Minouche T ShafikPRESIDENT (THROUGH 8/14/24) | $1,462,685 | $363,406 | $966,667 | $217,500 | $278,518 | $34,656 | $328,750 | $1,826,091 |
These figures come from Columbia'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 Columbia compares
Ranked 47th of 137 universities by president's pay.
- Previous in this ranking: 46th, Saint Louis University, $1,841,355
- Next in this ranking: 48th, University of Rochester, $1,803,590
Closest in revenue among the universities on this site:
Cornell University$1,405,700 (President), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
Emory University$3,024,831 (President), fiscal year ending Aug 2025
University of Miami$6,737,344 (CEO), fiscal year ending May 2025
MIT$2,151,788 (President), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
Stanford University$1,564,885 (President), fiscal year ending Aug 2025
Common questions
Nemat Minouche T Shafik (PRESIDENT (THROUGH 8/14/24)) was paid $1,826,091 for the fiscal year ending June 2025: $1,462,685 from Columbia and $363,406 in other compensation (Part VII columns D and F).
The highest-paid person on the latest return was Lawrence Gerald Lenke (PROFESSOR OF SURGERY), at $6,866,322. That is $5,040,231 more than the president, Nemat Minouche T Shafik.
Columbia paid its president, Nemat Minouche T Shafik, $1,826,091 for the fiscal year ending June 2025. That is up $667,925 (57.7%) from the fiscal year ending June 2024. The earliest return on record is for the fiscal year ending June 2022, when the president was Lee C Bollinger, paid $3,879,804. By fiscal year end: June 2022, $3,879,804 (Lee C Bollinger); June 2023, $4,994,815; June 2024, $1,158,166 (Nemat Minouche T Shafik); June 2025, $1,826,091.
Columbia's return for the fiscal year ending June 2025 reports total expenses of $7,210,914,321 and total revenue of $7,512,150,787 (Part I, lines 18 and 12), so revenue exceeded expenses by $301,236,466. Expenses were $6,846,031,159 for the fiscal year ending June 2024, so they rose 5.3%. The president's pay of $1,826,091 equals 0.03% of expenses, our calculation.
From the 4 Form 990 returns Columbia University filed with the IRS for fiscal years ending 2022 to 2025. The latest full-year return was filed on May 15, 2026. Schedule J of the fiscal year ending June 2025 return breaks down pay for all 6 people in the pay breakdown above.