Harvard Paid Claudine Gay $1.3 Million in 2023, Financial Disclosures Show

Former Harvard President Claudine Gay earned more than $1.3 million in 2023 — which spanned the end of her term as Faculty of Arts and Sciences dean and all six months of her short-lived presidency.

Lawrence S. Bacow, who turned over the presidency to Gay in July 2023, earned $3.1 million in his last six months leading Harvard, mostly in the form of deferred compensation, which is paid out to presidents at the end of their tenure. Bacow’s pay for most of his term was in line with Gay’s; he previously earned $1.3 million in 2022.

And Harvard Management Company CEO N.P. “Narv” Narvekar — the highest-earning employee across HMC and Harvard — earned $6.07 million in 2023, a slight drop from his $6.19 million payout in 2022, as the endowment recorded only a modest 2.9 percent return in fiscal year 2023. Narvekar previously saw a 6.9 percent pay cut during the 2022 calendar year after the endowment had its third-worst annual investment returns in the last 20 years.

The compensation, released as part of the University’s Form 990 tax filings for fiscal year 2024, is required annually by the Internal Revenue Service for tax-exempt entities. Salaries are reported for a calendar year.

Gay saw a 43 percent year-over-year increase in her salary as she transitioned from FAS dean to the presidency.

University President Alan M. Garber ’76, then Harvard’s provost, received $1.2 million during the same calendar year.

The University’s 990 release comes just one day after it announced that Garber would take a voluntary 25 percent pay cut for fiscal year 2026 as Harvard faces the Trump administration’s nearly $3 billion funding freeze.

Among new additions to the compensation rolls, Provost John F. Manning ’82 was listed for the first time in 2023, earning $884,000 for his role as Harvard Law School dean.

Other top figures in Harvard’s central administration — including former general counsel Diane E. Lopez and former development office head Brian K. Lee, both of whom left their roles in 2024 — saw their salaries hit seven figures for the first time.

Hopi E. Hoekstra began as FAS dean in August 2023 and earned $332,000 for the year — likely putting her pay roughly in line with Gay’s in that role. Harvard Business School Dean Srikant M. Datar and Harvard Medical School Dean George Q. Daley ’82, who each earned more than $1 million, were the University’s highest-paid deans in 2023.

Computer Science professor David J. Malan — who teaches Harvard’s flagship computer science course, CS50 — and Harvard Business School professors Paul M. Healy, Herman B. Leonard, and Linda Hill were the highest-paid faculty members in 2023, each taking in more than $1 million.

—Staff writer Avani B. Rai can be reached at avani.rai@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @avaniiiirai.

—Staff writer Saketh Sundar can be reached at saketh.sundar@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @saketh_sundar.