Multi-talented People should be paid more

I don't think too many of us would disagree with that statement. Of course, it does raise some questions. What fields are people talented in? How much more should they be paid? The question of reasonable compensation arose once more when I read today's NY Times article on the Academic-Industrial Complex, which talks about the role some college presidents play on the board of directors of major corporations. Does the president of Brown University know enough about financial matters to help Goldman Sachs? Is her knowledge worth $470,876 to Goldman? Does the president of RPI have so little to do at the university that she can sit of the boards of five major organizations? Is she worth $1,377,225, $795,001 of which comes from RPI, the remainder from the five organizations?

True, just about all directors of major companies are terribly overpaid and also have another very good source of income. Somehow,you'd hope that university presidents wouldn't be as greedy as the business types that typically populate the boards of major companies. But, the overriding question is what are these directors doing for we stockholders? How can they possible justify the astronomical sums they receive?

Anyway, here's some reading for you. This is a list of the compensation of a few university presidents/directors.