Vice-chancellor ‘not embarrassed’ by her salary

THE UK’s highest paid vice-chancellor has insisted she is not “embarrassed” by a row over her pay, saying her salary reflects a competitive jobs market.

Professor Dame Glynis Breakwell, who reportedly earned £468,000 in salary and benefits last year, announced she was retiring from the University of Bath on Tuesday.

It followed months of criticism about her pay packet which saw more than 300 staff demanding her resignation.

Speaking to Radio 4’s PM programme, Dame Glynis said she did not believe the controversy would bring the university into disrepute.

She told the programme: “I think the controversy has been something that I would have wished to avoid but I’m not embarrassed by the fact people who have actively determined my salary did so in the way that they did.

“I don’t actually think that the university’s reputation is being damaged by this, I think we recognise the value and significance of the university.”

Pressed on whether her salary was excessive, she said: “I think that we have a situation where we are in a globally competitive market for talent in higher education, that is particularly true in terms of the leaders of higher education.”

Last week, Dame Glynis narrowly survived a no confidence vote, in a secret ballot of the university’s senate, which oversees the institution’s academic work.