University President Richard Levin was the highest paid president in the Ivy League in 2009-’10, according to the most recent data in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Levin’s total compensation was $1,627,649, a 6.4 percent raise from the previous year, the report stated. The Yale Corporation’s Compensation Committee determines Levin’s salary by considering factors such as Yale’s progress during Levin’s tenure, his unusual longevity as president and his role as a national figure, Yale spokesman Tom Conroy told the News. Levin is the longest serving president in the Ivy League, having arrived at Yale in 1993.

Out of 519 presidents surveyed by the Chronicle, Levin came in ninth in overall compensation and third in base salary, with $1,042,049.

Conroy said the Committee and the Corporation consider how Levin’s compensation compares with other presidents at universities “of comparable complexity and quality” with certain characteristics such as intensive research and a medical school.

But Levin was not the highest paid University official in in 2009-’10 — that honor goes to Chief Investment Officer David Swenson, who earned $3,875,940 for his work, according to the University’s 2010 Internal Revenue Service Form 990.

Constantine Papadakis of Drexel University was the highest-paid university president, though the bulk of his $4,912,127 in earnings came from life insurance when he died in April 2009. Lee Bollinger of Columbia came in second in the Ivy League and twelfth on the list, raking in $1,527,217.

The report showed that Yale also placed 9th in average professor compensation, with an average compensation of $211,300.

GAVAN GIDEON