George Philip has won the state’s triple crown of compensation.
The triple dipper took in $641,000 in 2008 from three state coffers: his $261,000 pension as the former chief of the teachers retirement fund, his $280,000 salary as president of SUNY-Albany and $100,000 as a consultant at his former workplace.
Philip, 62, gets to live rent free in the “president’s residence” on campus and to use a 2004 Toyota Avalon “for official university business.”
He tops the list of 26 state-government retirees receiving more than $150,000 a year from the New York State Common Retirement Fund.
His huge pension stems from working 37 years for the state’s other major pension fund, the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System.
Philip’s salary at retirement was $379,600 a year, a combined paycheck for performing two jobs simultaneously for 12 years — executive director and chief investment officer.
“He was a very good investment person, so we wanted to use those skills,” teacher-pension spokesman John Cardillo said.
A month before the ink was dry on his retirement papers, Philip was appointed interim president of SUNY-Albany in October 2007. He was named president 18 months later.
The state granted Philip a waiver that lets him collect his pension and paycheck at the same time.
SUNY spokesman Karl Luntta said the university “conducted a national search” but offered the job to Philip — who hadn’t applied. He said “the state . . . made a judgment that the waiver was appropriate.” Philip was unavailable for comment.
Philip, who has a law degree, served as chairman of the University Council from 1996 to 2007 and was a member of the board of SUNY’s Research Foundation.
He became a triple dipper in 2008, when the teacher fund hired him as an investment consultant, paying him $100,000 for 48 hours of work — a rate of $2,083 an hour.
After that deal made news, his consulting fee was lowered to $31,500 in 2009. The contract expired on Dec. 31 and was not renewed.
His pension isn’t the fattest in the state. That distinction belongs to James Hunderfund, who retired in 2006 as school superintendent of Commack, LI, and collects $316,236 a year from the teacher fund that Philip managed.