Michigan State athletic director's salary comparable to predecessor's

EAST LANSING - Bill Beekman, Michigan State University's new vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics is getting a significant pay bump as the word "interim" drops out of his job title.

Beekman is set to receive a base salary of $750,000 as the new head of athletics at MSU. Members of the MSU Board of Trustees unanimously approved his appointment on Tuesday. Any annual raises will be at the discretion of the president. 

Back in February, Beekman — who began working for his alma mater in 1995 — received a raise to $400,000 along with his new role as interim athletic director.

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Beekman succeeds Mark Hollis, who served as MSU's athletic director for a decade beginning in 2008. Hollis announced his retirement in late January in the wake of the Larry Nassar scandal.

"While Nancy and I have made the decision to retire, the healing of the courageous survivors has been and will continue to be at the forefront of our minds," Hollis wrote to Beekman on Jan. 26.

Hollis' base salary prior to his departure was $759,000, according to MSU spokesperson Emily Guerrant. His most recent contract, signed in 2015, included a base salary of $667,000. Hollis received raises at former President Lou Anna Simon's discretion in the years that followed, Guerrant said.

Beekman is eligible to receive up to $100,000 in performance bonuses. Those are contingent on him hitting certain goals, ranging from maintaining academic success among student athletes to hitting financial targets.

Hollis was eligible for up to $50,000 in performance bonuses beginning in 2012, per his contract. He also received supplemental bonuses contingent on him staying in the role for 12 consecutive months.

Both men's contracts include a university car and tickets to football, ice hockey and basketball games free of charge. 

Beekman's salary puts him in the middle of his peers at other Big 10 schools. His closest counterpart geographically, Warde Manuel at the University of Michigan, earned $842,550 in salary in 2017, according to last year's annual salary report.

Beekman's contract also includes the promise of a different job under certain circumstances. If MSU ends his contract before July 31, 2023 without cause, he will become vice president and senior consultant to the offices of the provost and vice president for finance and operations. That role would pay 50% of his athletic director salary, $375,000 and be a five-year appointment from the day he leaves his post in athletics. 

Beekman has worn several hats at MSU, including as assistant dean for finance in the College of Human Medicine and executive director of the MSU Alumni Association. He's also served as secretary to the Board of Trustees since 2008, a post he vacated to become athletic director.

He also briefly served as acting president following the resignation of Lou Anna Simon in January.

More: People called Lou Anna Simon one of MSU's best presidents. Then came Larry Nassar.

Contact RJ Wolcott at (517) 377-1026 or rwolcott@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @wolcottr.