Regents grant pay raises to Iowa university presidents

IOWA CITY — Both University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson and Iowa State University President Wendy Wintersteen will get $60,000 pay raises in the budget year starting July 1, following performance evaluations this week by their governing Board of Regents.

University of Northern Iowa President Mark Nook will get a $25,000 boost to his annual base pay, along with a contract extension through 2027.

The regents unanimously approved the pay increases Thursday without discussion or making comments on the presidents’ performance over the last year — which was discussed in closed sessions by the presidents’ requests — Tuesday and Wednesday.

The $60,000 base pay increase for Wilson — who last year received a $50,000 raise and a contract extension through June 30, 2028 — will bring her annual salary to $760,000.

Wintersteen’s raise will bump her annual pay up to $710,000. Her salary stayed flat last year, but regents extended her contract through June 30, 2026.

And Nook’s $25,000 increase — his largest since taking the helm in 2016 at $357,110 — will bring his annual base pay to $397,1110, after landing his first raise last year of $15,000.

The board also extended Nook’s deferred compensation agreement through 2027 — adding $100,000 a year between July 2025 and June 2027.

Regents this week did not touch the deferred compensation agreements with Wilson and Wintersteen — who last summer received an extension and a new plan, respectively.

Specifically, the regents in 2023 extended Wilson’s deferred compensation plan — which was supposed to pay her $2.2 million in 2026 — through 2028, when she’ll get a $2.5 million payout.

In addition to the $733,333 deferred compensation Wintersteen got last summer and another $80,000 payout she’s getting this year, regents in 2023 established a new plan making annual $415,000 contributions through Dec. 31, 2025 — amounting to $1.04 million.

In addition, regents Thursday extended their contract with board Executive Director Mark Braun through 2029 — establishing a new deferred compensation plan paying him $155,000 annually through June 30, 2026.

The board took the action just before giving final approval of tuition increases across all three campuses and at all levels — bringing total base tuition and fees for resident undergraduates to $11,283 at the UI; $10,786 at ISU; and $9,936 at UNI.

When looking nationally and across the regent universities’ peer institutions, the presidential compensation is lower than many but higher than some.

The University of Illinois — from where the UI’s Wilson was hired — earlier this year extended system President Timothy Killeen’s contract and salary of $916,770. University of Michigan President Santa Ono’s base salary is $1.014 million, and Indiana University President Pamela Whitten earns $829,209 a year.

New Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz’ base pay is $975,000. But University of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman’s annual salary is $583,440.

The highest-paid public college and university presidents in the country include University of North Texas System President Michael Ray Williams at $1.4 million in base pay; University of Texas at Austin President Jay Hartzell at $1.3 million; and University System of Maryland President Jay Perman at $1.1 million.

For private colleges and universities, New York University has the highest-paid president, Andrew Hamilton, earning $3.3 million in base pay.

In 2021, according to Inside Higher Ed, former University of Pennsylvania Amy Gutmann in her last year on the job made nearly $23 million — more than $20 million of which was paid out in deferred compensation she had accrued over 18 years on the job.

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

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