News Story

10 Officials In Larry Nassar Sex Scandal By Salary

From MSU responses to Freedom of Information Act requests

Michigan Capitol Confidential is releasing the base salaries of the central characters involved in the Larry Nassar scandal. The information was provided by Michigan State University in response to an open records request.

Nassar is a convicted child molester who worked as a physician with USA Gymnastics, the national organization overseeing competitive gymnastics, as well as Michigan State University. He was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for numerous assault charges involving former athletes, many of them gymnasts. Nassar was fired by MSU in 2016. His university salary was $71,412 that year.

Here are the names and annual salaries of 10 people who had oversight responsibilities or were involved in the scandal more directly:

Lou Anna Simon, president of MSU
Role: Simon was the leader of the university. She resigned Jan. 24, hours after Nassar was sentenced.
2017 salary: $750,000

Mark Hollis, athletic director
Role: Hollis oversaw the athletic department. He resigned days after the NCAA told MSU that it would investigate how the university handled the allegations against Nassar.
2017 salary: $715,500

William Strampel, dean of College of Osteopathic Medicine
Role: Strampel was Nassar’s boss. He was charged this week with fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of willful neglect of duty in connection with the Nassar case, according to the Detroit Free Press. Strampel resigned from his position in December 2017 and went on medical leave.
2017 salary: $400,056

Kent Cassella, associate vice president for media communications
Role: Cassella resigned abruptly in February. He was the head of communications for the university.
2017 salary: $195,765

Shelley Appelbaum, executive associate athletic director and senior women’s administrator
Role: Applebum oversees two sports in which athletes have accused Nassar of sexual assault, according to the Detroit Free Press.
2017 salary: $170,000

Lisa DeStefano, chairperson of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine Department
Role: When Nassar said one of his accusers was misinterpreting a medical procedure, DeStefano backed up Nassar’s claim to investigators, according to the Lansing State Journal.
2017 salary: $155,000

Kathie Klages, women’s gymnastics coach
Role: Klages retired in February 2017 shortly after being suspended by the university following the Lansing State Journal reported that court filings accused her of discouraging athletes from reporting Nassar in the 1990s.
2017 salary: $75,768

Brooke Lemmen, MSU doctor, assistant professor
Role: Lemmen took several boxes of confidential treatment records from MSU’s Sports Medicine Clinic at Nassar’s request, according to the Lansing State Journal. Lemmen was another doctor who defended Nassar’s medical treatments as legitimate to investigators. Lemmen resigned in January 2017 as MSU was considering firing her.
2017 salary: $61,584

Destiny Teachnor-Hauk, athletic trainer
Role: Teachnor-Hauk was interviewed by MSU police and the FBI in an investigation into what university employees knew about Nassar, according to the Detroit Free Press. A former MSU softball player said she told Teachnor-Hauk that she had concerns about Nassar in the early 2000s, according to the Detroit Free Press.
2017 salary: $59,909

Lianna Hadden, athletic trainer
Role: At least two alleged victims of Nassar said they raised concerns about him to Hadden in the early 2000s, according to the Lansing State Journal.
2017 salary: $58,977

A website called OpenTheBooks.com contains the salaries of many of Michigan's public university employees. OpenTheBooks.com is a nonprofit whose mission is to “to capture and post all disclosed spending at every level of government.” The nonprofit has posted several years’ worth of salary data for many government workers in Michigan and other states.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.