UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI GIVES RUSSELL $6,900 PAY RAISE

COLUMBIA -- University of Missouri President George Russell has received a $6,900 pay raise, putting his salary at $169,600 for the 1993-94 year.

The salary was set by the Board of Curators.

"The board is very pleased with the bold and effective leadership of President Russell," said John Lichtenegger, a Jackson attorney and president of the Board of Curators.

He said Russell's 6 percent salary hike is consistent with those granted to productive faculty and staff.

"He has demonstrated his ability to make hard-nosed and innovative management decisions that have enhanced the quality of the university," Lichtenegger said.

Russell implemented a five-year financial plan in March 1992, four months after being named university president.

"He has reduced (the four-campus university) system administration by 112 positions, consolidated computer services and, through other efficiencies, made the university a stronger, more competitive player among the nation's major research universities," Lichtenegger said.

"President Russell, in a relatively short time, has moved the university past the halfway point in raising and reallocating about $124 million to solve its own problems through good management," Lichtenegger said.

"With the support of the Board of Curators, Dr. Russell has sparked innovative research funding, he has enhanced student financial aid, he has made faculty salaries more competitive, and he has made immense headway on emergency physical repairs and equipment replacement problems that have dogged the university for years," Lichtenegger said.