BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Professors at the University of Maryland’s Baltimore and College park campuses are among the best-paid faculty at public schools nationwide, says a new survey.

With an average professor salary of $142,700, University of Maryland, Baltimore, ranks first among public schools nationwide for faculty pay, while College Park ties for 10th with the University of Connecticut with an average salary of $127,500, according to an annual report from the American Association of University Professors.

The highest-paid professor at UMB is Stephen Bartlett, who serves as chairman of the surgery department and makes $786,719 a year.

Bartlett performs kidney and pancreas transplants and vascular surgery at University of Maryland Medical Center, teaches in the medical school, performs research and raises research dollars.

Part of his salary comes from his clinical care.

“Medical school salaries are very competitive nationwide, and we have an outstanding dean who is committed to recruiting the most outstanding people in the nation,” said Bartlett, who came to UMB in 1991.

These faculty could make much more in private practice or with large corporations, said Ed Fishel, a UMB spokesman.

With a salary of $315,000, Michel Wedel, a consumer science professor in the Smith School of Business, is the highest-paid faculty member at College Park.

He researches consumer behavior to improve marketing decision making, according to his university biography.

As a PepsiCo professor, Wedel receives part of his salary from an endowment from a private donor, said Leon Tune.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore, and College Park, pay their professors the most out of the state colleges because they are the research institutions that must compete internationally to recruit and retain top talent, said John Buettner, a spokesman for the university system.

“The upside is that they bring along with them millions of dollars in research funds,” he said.

“They look through breakthrough cures and therapies that have a positive effect for decades to come, not only for state but for the nation.”

The annual association survey also found the gap nationwide in faculty pay between private and public colleges continues to widen.

Female professors also continue to make less than men, with men earning an average of $106,195 to women’s $93,349.

kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com