An education in greed

THE vice-chancellor of Oxford University, Louise Richardson, defends her whopping £350,000-ayear salary (£410,000 when you include her pension) against ‘mendacious media and tawdry politicians’ and claims that her earnings are modest compared to those of bankers and footballers.

But they work in highly profitable sectors which generate huge revenues. Education, by contrast, is funded by the taxpayer, and a career in academia is generally considered more of a calling than an opportunity to coin it in.

No matter: Ms Richardson has the approval of the UUK, the universities’ representative body, whose president Janet Beer agreed coverage of the issue was ‘hysterical’. Professor Beer, 61, also happens to be vice-chancellor of Liverpool University. Salary: £340,000.