It often happens (especially since the financial crisis of the 2000’s) that people criticize what they perceive as unjustifiably large salaries for top positions in public institutions. What noticeably occurs less often is the exact opposite: one of these aforementioned people brings up the issue themselves. Nevertheless, in a shocking move that is still creating ripples across the American academic environment, Gregory Fenves, the incoming University of Texas at Austin president has done just that. His criticism wasn’t contained to an interview or academic paper either. Instead, he broached the subject in the actual talks regarding his remuneration where he decided to break with tradition by negotiating a lower salary. [Read more…]