Auburn University is paying departed school president Steven Leath $4.5 million over three years, nearly tripling what he would be paid over the next three years if he worked through his contract, according to documents obtained Saturday by the Opelika-Auburn News.
The agreement describes three payments of $1.5 million being awarded to Leath as part of their terms for his leaving the school.
The terms also forbid Leath from disparaging the university or disclosing information the university considers confidential.
āAuburn and Dr. Leath together agreed to part ways. The board is grateful to Dr. Leath for his dedication to Auburn and wishes him and Mrs. Leath all the best,ā said Brian Keeter, Auburnās executive director of public affairs, when asked Saturday for a comment.
The agreement, which the Opelika-Auburn News obtained after filing a Freedom of Information request, is signed by Auburnās trustee president pro tempore Wayne Smith.
In June 2017, Leath signed a five-year contract with Auburn offering him $625,000 per year in salary.
Now after two years, Leath is leaving ā and making $1.5 million per year to not be Auburnās president.
Auburn awarded him $1.5 million in separation money by July 1 according to the separation agreement document, and will pay him the same amount on July 1, 2020, and on July 1, 2021, to total $4.5 million, a year before his original contract was set to complete on July 15, 2022.
The university announced last month that Leath and the university board of trusteesā presidential assessment working group āmutually decided to part waysā in a news release.
No information was shared at that time regarding terms of the separation, and officials gave few comments about the matter.
Auburnās board last week voted to bring back former school president Jay Gogue to serve as the schoolās interim president.
The university has not announced any details yet regarding specifics on the search for a new president.
Post a comment as
Report
Watch this discussion.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.