UNM’s Six-Figure Salary Club

By Jim Scarantino on December 2, 2012

Paul Roth, UNM Health Sciences Dean

The University of New Mexico pays salaries greater than $100,000 to 1,120 people. The highest paid person on UNM’s payroll is Paul Roth, the Health Sciences Dean, who pulls down $518,640. James Harrington, an assistant professor of neurosurgery, makes$450,000. David Harris, the Executive Vice President of the University, is paid $293,500 Robert Debesse, receives $200,000. Joesphine DeLeon, the Vice President for Equity and Inclusion, gets $185,000. UNM’s lobbyist, Marc Saavedra, is paid $147,394. Luci Tapahonso, an English professor, closes out the list at an annual salary of $100,000.

Fifty-one people make more than $300,000. Two hundred thirty-nine make over $200,000. Most of the top people go to medical professionals in the University’s hospital and professors in the health sciences.

We compiled these figures from the data available on UNM’s Sunshine Portal. New Mexico Watchdog intern Marco Portillo, who is studying economics at UNM, harvested and organized the data.

You can see the list of all 1,120 members of UNM six-figure salary club at this link.

Polly Anderson

In a previous report, we examined the $165,000 annual salary of Polly Anderson, general manager of KMME-TV, the Public Broadcasting System affiliate. We compared her salary managing the operations of a relatively small staff with what New Mexico’s major cities pay their administrators to oversee thousands of employees.

UNM’s Sunshine Portal reports only base salaries. The employee’s actual compensation may be far higher, especially in the case of UNM’s men’s basketball and football coaches. Incidentally, Paul Krebs, the VP for athletics, is paid $308,391,

UNM’s President, Robert G. Frank, receives a base salary of $355,000. University Provost Chaouki Abdallah gets $270,000.