New law dean says he demanded a lower paycheck
Vikram Amar. Photo by University of Illinois.
The constitutional law expert who is set to become the next dean of the University of Illinois College of Law says he wants to make law school more affordable, and he’s doing his part by insisting on slightly lower pay.
Vikram Amar will make $325,900 when he becomes dean on Aug. 16, provided he gets approval from in a vote this month by the board of trustees, report the National Law Journal (sub. req.), the Wall Street Journal Law Blog and the Champaign News Gazette.
The stories differ on how Amar’s salary compares to that of the last dean who held the job in more than an interim capacity. The News Gazette says the prior dean made $326,651 in 2013-14. Amar also declined a summer stipend, which is typically about $25,000.
Law deans on average make about $300,000 a year, according to the National Law Journal and the News Gazette, which cite a salary survey by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. Amar told the News Gazette his salary is lower than the amount recently offered to dean candidates at other law schools.
Amar is joining U of I from the University of California at Davis law school, where he is senior associate dean for academic affairs and a professor teaching constitutional law and civil procedure.
“I told the provost early in our negotiations, ‘I make a good living at Davis. I need to make sure that I can pay my bills and the like,’ ” Amar said in an interview with the News Gazette. “I don’t want to be a martyr, but I do think that the cost of legal education is a problem. I want to not contribute to the problem but rather begin to be part of the solution.”
