Harvard's tenured professors make more money, on average, than faculty members at any other American institution, according to a recent article published in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The average yearly salary for a tenured professor at the University, excluding the Medical School, is $96,000, according to a report compiled by the American Association of University Professors. Harvard's associate professors make $55,700, according to the report, while assistant professors earn $50,000 and lecturers make $38,400 on average.

Robert H. Scott, vice president for finance, said Harvard must promise high salaries in order to compete with other schools and entice top professors.

"We're always searching for the best professors," he said. "If we do not offer a really leading salary and benefit package, we cannot compete."

Harvard professors' income is relatively high because "our faculty is extremely distinguished," said Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles.

The University also tries to maintain rough equality in salaries within each of its ten schools, without offering huge incomes to its "stars," Scott said.

"We don't have a few professors [who are] paid much more than others," he said.

The averages listed in the report were University-wide, but officials said faculty salaries vary considerably from school to school.

Schools which compete with the private sector for faculty members, such as the Business and Law Schools, must offer higher incomes to lure professors away from lucrative jobs, according to Paul W. Upson, assistant dean for finance and operations at the Law School.

"They [salaries] are significantly higher than other areas, primarily because of the market for alternative employment," Upson said.

The Chronicle also reported a significant nationwide gap between male and female professors' average salaries.

Knowles said in a Faculty meeting last month that an independent survey taking into account seniority and rank had shown no such income differential by sex in the FAS.

According to the Chronicle, faculty salaries across the nation rose only about 2.5 percent last year, an increase which did not keep pace with the 2.9 percent inflation rate.

Scott said Harvard faculty's salary increases last year varied from school to school.

Knowles said full professors in the FAS received a raise of "somewhat less than 4 percent" last year.

Full professors at Princeton University receive the second highest average salary, earning $92,700. Stanford's professors earn $91,200 a year, while Yale pays its professors $90,200. The University's Cambridge neighbor, MIT, pays its full professors $87,000