American University Cancels Ex-Chief’s $1-Million Buyout

WASHINGTON —  The trustees of American University voted unanimously Thursday to rescind a controversial offer to pay nearly $1 million to buy out the contract of Richard Berendzen, the school’s former president who pleaded guilty to making obscene telephone calls.

Berendzen had asked the trustees to withdraw the offer after he was offered a chance to return as a full professor on the physics faculty in the spring of 1992.

That agreement puts Berendzen, 51, on administrative leave with pay at his faculty salary for the 1990-91 academic year and the fall 1991 semester. His annual salary would be in the range of $70,000, officials said.

He has continued to draw his annual salary of about $140,000 since resigning as president in April.

Berendzen, named president in 1980, pleaded guilty to making obscene telephone calls to a woman from his office. Two 30-day jail terms were suspended in lieu of psychiatric treatment.