Wright State University paid $274,296 last year to the school's former provost who has been suspended from the university for nearly three years, according to the I-Team Payroll Project searchable database of public employees.
Sundaram Narayanan was WSU's second-in-command before he was placed on paid leave and demoted in 2015 amid an ongoing investigation into the university's possible misuse of federal work visas. Since then, he has been prohibited from doing any work for the school but has remained on its payroll as a faculty member in biomedical, industrial and human factors engineering.
University leaders took steps to fire Narayanan in September, but he then went on sick leave and remains employed by the university, according to school officials.
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Former WSU researcher Phani Kidambi was suspended along with Narayanan but resigned in August 2017. He was paid $50,404 last year, according to the I-Team Payroll Project.
Wright State faces a budget crisis that could lead to state-designated fiscal watch. School leaders have slashed $30 million from their budget but need to cut $10 million more.
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But the school’s highest-paid worker saw a pay raise. Boonshoft School of Medicine Dean Margaret Dunn was compensated $518,199 last year, up from $499,298 in 2016.
And Men’s Basketball Coach Scott Nagy was paid $502,719 last year; he signed on with the school in 2016 and was paid $374,773 for working a partial year that year.
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In previous years, the school's highest paid employee was president David Hopkins. But Hopkins stepped down from the president's office in March 2017. He stepped down to become a professor of kinesiology and health, but never taught any classes before resigning this year. He was paid $422,433 last year.
Wright State’s 10 highest-paid employees last year were:
1. Margaret Dunn, Dean of the Boonshoft School of Medicine: $518,199
2. Scott Nagy, men’s basketball coach: $502,719
3. David Hopkins, professor and former WSU president: $422,433
4. Glen Solomon, professor and chair of internal medicine: $415,953
5. Mary McCarthy, professor of surgery: $414,555
6. Timothy Broderick, Wright State Research Institute chief scientist: $414,099
7. Thomas Sudkamp, provost: $345,470
8. Amit Sheth, professor of computer science: $332,811
9. Jeffrey Travers, professor and chair, pharmacology and toxicology: $302,099
10. Robert Fyffe, professor of neuroscience: $301,333
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