Cornell University Endowment Chief Was Paid $1.9 Million in 2018

(Bloomberg) -- Cornell University's chief investment officer was paid almost $1.9 million in 2018 as he spearheaded efforts to turn around the underperforming endowment.

Ken Miranda received a base salary of $775,490 and a bonus of $901,242, according to an annual federal tax filing. He also got $211,000 for items including deferred compensation. His total pay was down slightly from the year prior.

Cornell's endowment has the worst annualized five-year return in the Ivy League at 5.5%, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In fiscal 2018, the school placed sixth among the eight elite schools with a 10.6% return. In fiscal 2019, it was seventh with a 5.3% gain.

Miranda was hired in 2016 from the International Monetary Fund to oversee Cornell's now $6.9 billion endowment. He led the move of its investment office to Manhattan from Ithaca in central New York, where the school is based.

Investment officials are typically among the highest paid at top colleges and their compensation has been scrutinized as the cost of higher education has soared.

The head of Brown University's investment office made almost $1.3 million in 2018, Bloomberg has reported. Brown led the Ivy League in endowment performance in fiscal 2019.

While Miranda's compensation was in line with other university officials, several employees who serve as faculty members and practice medicine at Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan, received more generous compensation.

Among them was Zev Rosenwaks, who was paid $8.3 million in 2018, according to the filing. An obstetrician and gynecologist, he is the director and physician-in-chief of a reproductive medicine center at Weill Cornell Medicine. The filing notes that some of that pay came from clinical services.