The professors of oil at ExxonMobil

Old professors don’t fade away. They join the ExxonMobil board of directors.

After the retirements of three directors, effective at its annual meeting next month, one-quarter of the oil giant’s 12 remaining board members will be professors or former professors.

The newest is Larry Faulkner, 63, former chemistry prof, former president of the University of Texas at Austin, and current president of the Houston Endowment. Faulkner joined the ExxonMobil board in January.

He complements a Big Oil faculty that includes Michael Boskin, economics professor, Hoover Institution, Stanford, and William George, management professor at Harvard. Boskin, 62, joined the company’s board in 1996 and George, 65, in 2005.

ExxonMobil pays the profs well.

Boskin and George each received more than $400,000 in cash and stock last year, according to the company’s annual proxy statement. The stock awards are even more valuable than stated because the market price has increased. Record profits and record oil prices do that.

The profs also are paid well by other companies to be directors. Boskin received more than $460,000 in cash and options from Oracle, and roughly $275,000 (at current exchange rates) from Vodafone, according to company filings.

George received more than $660,000 in stock from Goldman Sachs and roughly $600,000 (at current exchange rates) in cash and stock from Novartis.

Faulkner received total compensation of $215,000 from Temple-Inland and Guaranty Financial.

The company’s annual meeting is May 28 at the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, one of the world’s great concert halls. That only seems appropriate. For investors, ExxonMobil is sweet financial music.

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