Ten of the 23 highest-paid state employees work for UMass Medical School, only two are women

A man in a white lab coat speaks to five people in a semicircle around him.

Photo | Edd Cote UMass Chan Medical School Chancellor Michael Collins speaks with students.

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Out of the 23 highest-paid state employees in 2019, 10 work for UMass Medical School in Worcester, according to the WBJ Research Department, which sourced its data from the State’s Comptroller Office. Out of those 23, 17 brought home earnings totaling more than $500,000.

Notably, only two of those 23 people are women.

Once again, the highest-paid state employee is Michael Collins, chancellor and vice president of health services at UMass Medical School, who brought home $1,096,431 in 2019, including a salary of $761,279. Collins was also the highest-paid state employee in 2018 and 2017.

The second highest-paid state employee also did not change between 2018 and 2019, going to Terence Flotte, the dean, provost and executive deputy chancellor at UMass Medical School. His earnings for the year totaled $1,076,817, including an $808,000 salary.

Other UMass Medical School employees on the list in order of descending rank include: Michael Green, vice provost for strategic research initiatives; James Glasheen, executive vice chancellor for innovation and business development; Mark Steven Joel Klempner, executive vice chancellor for MassBiologics; Kenneth Rock, chair and professor of pathology; Lisa Colombo, executive vice chancellor for Commonwealth Medicine; Jeffrey Geller, professor of psychiatry; Charles Matthews, chair and professor for biochemistry and molecular pharmacology; and John Lindstedt, executive vice chancellor of administration and finance.

Colombo, who earned $510,125 last year, represents one of the two women to make the list; the other is Jacqueline Moloney, chancellor at UMass Lowell, who brought home $505,207 in 2019. They ranked 13 and 16, respectively.

Notably, Massachusetts is one of only 10 states where the highest-paid state employee is not a football or basketball coach, according to a 2019 report compiled by ESPN. Other states where this is true include all of New England, as well as New York, Delaware, Alaska, Hawaii, Montana and North Dakota.

The highest ranking state-paid athletic coach in Massachusetts is Matthew McCall, head coach of men's basketball at UMass, who is the third highest-paid state employee, bringing home $827,000 in 2019. Two other coaches also made the list: Walter Bell, head UMass football coach, and Normand Bazin, head men’s ice hockey coach at UMass Lowell. Bell brought home $628,693 in 2019; Bazin brought home $504,750.

For more details, see the chart below.