Rice University president salary and executive pay
Rice University paid its president, Reginald Desroches, $2,074,566 for the fiscal year ending June 2025. That is up $418,739 (25.3%) from the fiscal year ending June 2024. Total revenue on that return was $1,635,701,788, up 14.9% from $1,423,437,172 for the fiscal year ending June 2024. Rice University ranks 33rd of 137 universities on this site by president's pay. Rice University has 4 Form 990 returns on record, for fiscal years ending 2022 to 2025.
Last updated from IRS e-file data. EIN 74-1109620, Houston, TX.
President, fiscal year ending June 2025
$2,074,566
Highest-paid person, fiscal year ending June 2025
$2,975,212Allison ThackerChief Investment Officer, Treasurer, Assistant Secretary
- Total revenue
- $1,635,701,788
- Pay vs. peers
- Higher than 39%
Source: Form 990, fiscal year ending June 2025, IRS object ID 202601319349301340.View the filing
Peers: the 131 other universities on this site. Ranked 80th of 132 by top pay as a share of revenue. Pay is 0.13% 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, 23 people were paid more than $500,000, 9 of them more than $1 million.
| Name and title | Total |
|---|---|
| Allison ThackerChief Investment Officer, Treasurer, Assistant Secretary | $2,975,212 |
| Reginald Desroches President President | $2,074,566 |
| John LawrenceInvestment Manager | $1,172,708 |
| Brent SmithAssociate Professor | $1,171,411 |
| Craig BeechInvestment Manager | $1,087,335 |
Also paid on the latest return: Amy Dittmar (Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs), $1,084,857; Stephen Bayer (Vice President for Development & Alumni Relations), $1,076,208; Michael Bloomgren (Football Coach), $1,072,024; Kelly Fox (Executive VP for Finance and Administration, Associate Treasurer and Assistant Secretary), $1,010,304; Ramesh Ramamoorthy (Executive VP for Research), $983,263; Peter Rodriguez (Dean of Jones Graduate Business School of Business), $954,160; Thomas McClelland (Director of Athletics), $857,066; Bernard Banks (Associate Professor), $822,037; Cindy Melton (Associate Vice President, Investments and Associate Treasurer), $662,835; Omar Syed (Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary), $637,441; Luay Nakhleh (Dean of George R. Brown School of Engineering), $630,917; Melinda Spaulding Chevalier (Vice President of Public Affairs), $623,219; David Leebron (Former President), $560,001; Robert Yekovich (Former Dean), $557,301; Thomas Killian (Dean of Wiess School of Natural Sciences), $542,290; and 18 more.
Also listed in Part VII of the latest return, with no pay reported: Asuka Nakahara (Trustee), Bart Broadman (Trustee), Brandy Morrison (Trustee), Brian Patterson (Trustee), Byron Pope (Trustee), Cathryn Selman (Trustee), Claudia Gee Vassar (Trustee), Elle Anderson (Trustee), Elle Moody (Trustee), George Gonzalez (Trustee), Gloria Tarpley (Trustee), Holli Ladhani (Trustee), James Whitehurst (Trustee), Jennifer Kneale (Trustee), Jeremy Thigpen (Trustee), Joshua Earnest (Trustee), Lori Whitten (Trustee), Mark Durcan (Trustee), Michael Yuen (Trustee), Michol L Ecklund (Trustee), Patricia Kraft (Trustee), Randa Duncan Williams (Trustee), Robert T Ladd (Chair, Board of Trustees), Terrence Gee (Trustee), Vinay Pai (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 | Reginald Desroches President President | $2,074,566 | $1,635,701,788 | Filing |
| Jun 2024 | Reginald Desroches President President | $1,655,827 | $1,423,437,172 | Filing |
| Jun 2023 | Reginald Desroches President President | $1,222,148 | $1,125,640,523 | Filing |
| Jun 2022 | David Leebron President President | $2,264,425 | $1,372,497,739 | 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 202601319349301340.View the filing
| Part VII | Schedule J | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name and title | From org | Other | Base | Bonus | Other | Deferred | Nontaxable | Total |
| Allison ThackerChief Investment Officer, Treasurer, Assistant Secretary | $2,885,616 | $89,596 | $1,915,553 | $927,563 | $42,500 | $43,320 | $46,276 | $2,975,212 |
| Reginald DesrochesPresident | $1,640,959 | $433,607 | $1,087,459 | $500,000 | $53,500 | $166,653 | $266,954 | $2,074,566 |
| John LawrenceInvestment Manager | $1,097,039 | $75,669 | $528,364 | $538,175 | $30,500 | $32,970 | $42,699 | $1,172,708 |
| Brent SmithAssociate Professor | $1,096,446 | $74,965 | $1,065,946 | $0 | $30,500 | $43,320 | $31,645 | $1,171,411 |
| Craig BeechInvestment Manager | $1,001,444 | $85,891 | $467,094 | $481,950 | $52,400 | $43,320 | $42,571 | $1,087,335 |
These figures come from Rice University'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 Rice University compares
Ranked 33rd of 137 universities by president's pay.
- Previous in this ranking: 32nd, University of Chicago, $2,082,741
- Next in this ranking: 34th, Spelman College, $2,028,496
Closest in revenue among the universities on this site:
Southern New Hampshire University$1,071,826 (President), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
Western Governors University$2,131,084 (President), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
University of Delaware$1,523,193 (President), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
Thomas Jefferson University$7,010,762 (CEO), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
Baylor College of Medicine$4,716,352 (President), fiscal year ending Jun 2025
Common questions
Reginald Desroches (President) was paid $2,074,566 for the fiscal year ending June 2025: $1,640,959 from Rice University and $433,607 in other compensation (Part VII columns D and F).
The highest-paid person on the latest return was Allison Thacker (Chief Investment Officer, Treasurer, Assistant Secretary), at $2,975,212. That is $900,646 more than the president, Reginald Desroches.
Rice University paid its president, Reginald Desroches, $2,074,566 for the fiscal year ending June 2025. That is up $418,739 (25.3%) from the fiscal year ending June 2024. The earliest return on record is for the fiscal year ending June 2022, when the president was David Leebron, paid $2,264,425. By fiscal year end: June 2022, $2,264,425 (David Leebron); June 2023, $1,222,148 (Reginald Desroches); June 2024, $1,655,827; June 2025, $2,074,566.
Rice University's return for the fiscal year ending June 2025 reports total expenses of $1,369,765,124 and total revenue of $1,635,701,788 (Part I, lines 18 and 12), so revenue exceeded expenses by $265,936,664. Expenses were $1,273,179,891 for the fiscal year ending June 2024, so they rose 7.6%. The president's pay of $2,074,566 equals 0.15% of expenses, our calculation.
From the 4 Form 990 returns Rice University filed with the IRS for fiscal years ending 2022 to 2025. The latest full-year return was filed on May 11, 2026. Schedule J of the fiscal year ending June 2025 return breaks down pay for all 5 people in the pay breakdown above.