Who are Indiana University's highest paid employees?

Despite earning $896,128 with bonuses in 2024 (her base salary was bumped to $900,000 in 2025), Whitten was only the seventh highest-paid employee in the IU system last year. Football coach Curt Cignetti, former men’s basketball coach Mike Woodson and women’s basketball coach Teri Moren represented the three highest-paid IU employees in 2024, with salaries between $1.4 to $6.4 million.

Interestingly, Whitten wasn’t even the highest-paid administrator; that was IU School of Medicine Dean Jay Hess, who made about $230,000 more than Whitten and was IU’s sixth biggest earner, earning $1,128,338 in 2025.

Looking at the IU system’s top earners through the publicly accessible Indiana Gateway website offers interesting insights into institutional diversity, changing bureaucracy and shifting economic priorities for the state’s flagship university. Here are some interesting findings.

Athletic leadership is the largest portion of IU’s top 50 earners

IU has long recognized the importance of athletics in driving up revenue and name recognition for the school, and that’s increasingly reflected in the institution’s top earners.