Eric Barron to collect $1 million payout as he leaves office of Penn State presidency

Penn State President Eric Barron will leave office after eight years with a $1 million payout but will continue to serve as a consultant at his current $876,612 salary for the next year.

The Penn State board of trustees subcommittee on compensation approved Barron’s “end-of-term provisions” consistent with his contract Tuesday. The $1 million includes a $200,000 retention payment and a completion payment of $800,000, said Kathleen Casey, subcommittee chair.

Barron is retiring after leading Pennsylvania’s flagship university since early 2014. He will continue to be paid through June 30, although his last day in office will be May 8.

The trustees met in a special teleconference to consider those aspects of the presidential transition. A separate committee on finance approved a real estate acquisition of the Schuylkill Advisory Board Property near Penn State Schuylkill.

Barron’s successor, Neeli Bendapudi, is due to begin her tenure in early May after being named by Penn State trustees in December. She is an Indian-born scholar who served as the president of the University of Louisville. She is the first woman to lead the public university and was chosen unanimously by Penn State’s board after a presidential search.

Barron became Penn State’s president on May 12, 2014, having been selected by trustees at a special board meeting in February of that year. His appointment came a little more than two years after the Jerry Sandusky sexual assault scandal, which rocked the campus and toppled university leadership.

In the years since, Barron led the land-grant institution that included more than 88,000 students, $1 billion in research expenditures and two dozen locations. The university’s operating budget exceeds $7 billion.

In recent days, Penn State’s website has called attention to the legacy Barron leaves, from the $2.1 billion “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence” fundraising campaign, due to finish in June, to his efforts to slow tuition increases, as well as other brick-and-mortar and curricular improvements. He worked to overhaul Greek life after incidents including the horrific death of a pledge and spearheaded efforts to bring in-person classes back amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

His administration supported efforts to bring intellectual property to the marketplace and to provide support for entrepreneurs across the commonwealth. He supported construction of a new Palmer Museum of Art and the expansion of The Arboretum at Penn State.

In 2020, the Chronicle of Higher Education put Barron’s total compensation at $1,149,852, including his $844,179 base pay and benefits.