UW President Mark Emmert's side jobs earn him big bucks

Moonlighting for most people might mean some extra cash to pay the rent or take that summer vacation. But for University of Washington President Mark Emmert, it means an extra $340,000 a year.

Emmert in recent months has quietly accepted two board positions at local Fortune 500 companies. The first, for freight company Expeditors International, pays $200,000 a year in company stock. The second, for Weyerhaeuser, pays $140,000 annually — $70,000 a year in cash and $70,000 in stock that Emmert can cash in after leaving the board.

Emmert is required to attend four to six meetings annually for each company. Each meeting usually lasts a day or two.

The money comes on top of Emmert's annual UW compensation package of $905,000 and free use of the 12,000-square-foot presidential mansion. Emmert was most recently ranked third-highest paid among public university presidents by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

UW Regents said they unanimously approved both of Emmert's outside appointments after several long discussions. The regents have limited Emmert to serving on two corporate boards.

"When he was hired, he was promised he would have this ability," said Stan Barer, who chairs the Board of Regents. "We can't be an island. At a public university, knowing the community and being a part of it is important."

The UW has freight contracts with Expeditors worth about $300,000 annually, and much smaller contracts with Weyerhaeuser. Emmert has filed a memo at the UW formally recusing himself from any business dealings with Expeditors — where shareholders are expected to confirm his appointment next week — and said he plans to do the same for Weyerhaeuser before taking his seat on that board next month. Weyerhaeuser has been a significant donor to the UW over the years.

A 2006 survey of university presidents conducted by the American Council on Education in Washington, D.C., showed that more than 85 percent served on outside boards.

"The most common service for presidents is on nonprofit boards, such as the heart association, the art museum or the children's hospital," said Jacqueline King, a director at the council. "In terms of corporate boards, it is most common at the doctoral-granting research universities. Of those who serve on corporate boards, most serve on just one or two."

Some presidents have gotten in trouble for serving on too many boards. Emmert's one-time mentor E. Gordon Gee was limited to three boards when he became president of Ohio State University last year. While at Vanderbilt University, Gee came under fire for serving on five boards, earning more than $750,000 a year in outside income.

Securities and Exchange Commission filings show that Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman chose one of the more lucrative board positions. She earned $1.3 million in 2006 and $599,000 last year in stock and options from sitting on the board of Google.

At the UW, Emmert said he was attracted to Weyerhaeuser and Expeditors because both are prominent in the Pacific Northwest and have a significant impact on the local economy.

"I think it fits in very nicely with the work of the university president," Emmert said. "It helps me understand the economy of the region more effectively, and the concerns of the business world.

"Secondly, it allows me to learn a different way of running enterprises. All my working career, I have spent at universities. It's helpful for me to know how others manage their affairs, and to expand my circle of folks that I interact with regionally and nationally."

Emmert said he will use his evenings to read about company issues and doesn't think the outside work will distract from his primary role at the UW.

But former UW President William Gerberding, who at various times served on the boards of Washington Mutual, Pacific Northwest Bell and Safeco, said in an October letter to Regents chairman Barer that while it is good to be recognized regionally as "a player" it can also pose problems.

"It was not always easy to balance the demands on my time of these board memberships and my responsibilities as president, and I even took steps once to resign from one of the boards," Gerberding wrote in response to a regents' request for comment. "But I was talked out of this ... I certainly never forgot what my primary responsibilities were."

Emmert also serves in a number of unpaid roles, including as a director of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and as a member of Gov. Christine Gregoire's Puget Sound Partnership.

Weyerhaeuser spokesman Bruce Amundson said the company looks for a wide range of backgrounds among its board members. As far as Amundson could remember, Emmert is the first educator to sit on the board.

Fortune magazine ranked Federal Way-based Weyerhaeuser as the 147th largest company in the U.S. this year, with annual revenues of $16.9 billion. Seattle-based Expeditors, a recent addition to the Fortune 500 list, ranked 458th with $5.2 billion in revenues. Emmert's compensation from both companies is set at the same level as for other directors.

Seattle Times news researchers David Turim and Gene Balk contributed to this report.

Nick Perry: 206-515-5639 or nperry@seattletimes.com