4 ms·

sensational headline ... tenured professors are the top 1% of academia and they have a pension no? maybe he sold it to live out his final days with premium ca

sensational headline ... tenured professors are the top 1% of academia and they have a pension no? maybe he sold it to live out his final days with premium care. maybe they decided his surviving wife would've rather had a liquid estate instead of a shiny medal in a closet.

just_myles 8y ago
Don't they also have fairly high salaries to boot?
Balgair 8y ago
Mostly no, they do not. PIs are typically paid little, given their worth on the market for their skills. Even though he was 'famous', he got his Nobel at ~70 years old, meaning that he spent most of his earning years 'unrecognized'. I know you can look up any University of California professor's earnings here: https://www.sacbee.com/site-services/databases/state-pay/article2642161.html https://www.sacbee.com/site-services/databases/state-pay/art... For instance Professor Vickram Chandra of UC Berkeley [0] made ~$91k in 2016 [1]. Other professors make more, like Professor Alexandrova of UCLA who make ~$146k in 2016 [2]. You can poke around the UCs and compare. Do remember that most PIs labor in grad school for ~7 years, earning barely anything. I do not know of other databases for other universities that do this, but many US states have sunshine laws that make professor's salaries public information. I know that Colorado also mandates that all public employee's emails are public information too and I think other states do this as well, though I do not have a list of them. [0]https://english.berkeley.edu/profiles/22 https://english.berkeley.edu/profiles/22 [1]https://www.sacbee.com/site-services/databases/state-pay/article2642161.html?appSession=887L947CK3UM98E4DB378779Z503C4T6TB5OJD2OJ495LF1Z091E7RD5BR409ZKV79G3UD4N4ITQ59HA712A8GKV9TKJ5RVF757MHBY9O6J6JO1335OAS2G5NHH1822F&RecordID=493784&PageID=8&PrevPageID=2&cpipage=1&CPIsortType=&CPIorderBy=&cbCurrentRecordPosition=8&Mod0LinkToDetails=True https://www.sacbee.com/site-services/databases/state-pay/art... [2]https://www.sacbee.com/site-services/databases/state-pay/article2642161.html?appSession=6B3RKRX1H8VB3IZ31YUKSNP966M6LA9697C9GSP7250BB7CEW9D7607C763RRFMZWEG7R4T2OI1W88L50X9M48768FH16L85SVZ2SX2N5S2H93C726P0P38HI3TV5901&RecordID=329255&PageID=8&PrevPageID=2&cpipage=1&CPIsortType=&CPIorderBy=&cbCurrentRecordPosition=1&Mod0LinkToDetails=True https://www.sacbee.com/site-services/databases/state-pay/art...
- jakelarkin 8y ago
  the question the article raises is not whether theyre paid their worth but rather whether theyre dying paupers I looked up my friends PI at Berkeley. (no Nobel) $300k pension 50-75% of salary + retiree healthcare benefits hard to say someone in that position is going to end up destitute unless they make terrible life choices.

just_myles 8y ago

Don't they also have fairly high salaries to boot?

Balgair 8y ago

Mostly no, they do not. PIs are typically paid little, given their worth on the market for their skills. Even though he was 'famous', he got his Nobel at ~70 years old, meaning that he spent most of his earning years 'unrecognized'. I know you can look up any University of California professor's earnings here: https://www.sacbee.com/site-services/databases/state-pay/article2642161.html https://www.sacbee.com/site-services/databases/state-pay/art... For instance Professor Vickram Chandra of UC Berkeley [0] made ~$91k in 2016 [1]. Other professors make more, like Professor Alexandrova of UCLA who make ~$146k in 2016 [2]. You can poke around the UCs and compare. Do remember that most PIs labor in grad school for ~7 years, earning barely anything. I do not know of other databases for other universities that do this, but many US states have sunshine laws that make professor's salaries public information. I know that Colorado also mandates that all public employee's emails are public information too and I think other states do this as well, though I do not have a list of them. [0]https://english.berkeley.edu/profiles/22 https://english.berkeley.edu/profiles/22 [1]https://www.sacbee.com/site-services/databases/state-pay/article2642161.html?appSession=887L947CK3UM98E4DB378779Z503C4T6TB5OJD2OJ495LF1Z091E7RD5BR409ZKV79G3UD4N4ITQ59HA712A8GKV9TKJ5RVF757MHBY9O6J6JO1335OAS2G5NHH1822F&RecordID=493784&PageID=8&PrevPageID=2&cpipage=1&CPIsortType=&CPIorderBy=&cbCurrentRecordPosition=8&Mod0LinkToDetails=True https://www.sacbee.com/site-services/databases/state-pay/art... [2]https://www.sacbee.com/site-services/databases/state-pay/article2642161.html?appSession=6B3RKRX1H8VB3IZ31YUKSNP966M6LA9697C9GSP7250BB7CEW9D7607C763RRFMZWEG7R4T2OI1W88L50X9M48768FH16L85SVZ2SX2N5S2H93C726P0P38HI3TV5901&RecordID=329255&PageID=8&PrevPageID=2&cpipage=1&CPIsortType=&CPIorderBy=&cbCurrentRecordPosition=1&Mod0LinkToDetails=True https://www.sacbee.com/site-services/databases/state-pay/art...

jakelarkin 8y ago
the question the article raises is not whether theyre paid their worth but rather whether theyre dying paupers I looked up my friends PI at Berkeley. (no Nobel) $300k pension 50-75% of salary + retiree healthcare benefits hard to say someone in that position is going to end up destitute unless they make terrible life choices.