Search: What are the salaries of University of Kentucky employees in 2026?
The highest-paid University of Kentucky employees are in UK Athletics and university administration, similar to previous years of data, according to the newest available salary information from the university.
The 2025-2026 salary database, which the Herald-Leader obtains each year through a public records request, documents the annual salary information for all UK employees. The database includes 27,004 employees, an increase of 573 employees from last year’s information.
Of those employees, 169 make $500,000 or more annually, and 17 make $1 million or more annually.
The average salary among all UK employees is $79,548. The median salary is $61,465.
Salaries listed in the database are base salaries, and actual earnings may be higher based on contracts, bonuses and employee benefits.
The highest earners at UK are mostly unchanged from previous years. Brad White, UK’s football defensive coordinator who recently left UK for the same position at Florida, remained the highest-paid employee. Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart also remains among the highest-paid employees, with a salary of $1.43 million.
For head coaches, the bulk of their compensation comes from the use of their name, image and likeness, and rights of endorsement, not their base salary. Coaches are also eligible for incentives based on how the team performs each season.
The highest-paid administrators are Provost Robert DiPaola, executive vice president for finance and administration Eric Monday, and President Eli Capilouto, whose salaries all top $1 million annually. Capilouto’s contract also includes benefits and incentives, including a retention incentive based on his ongoing employment at UK, along with housing and a car.
The 10 highest-paid employees at UK in 2025-2026 are:
1. White, football defensive coordinator: $1.7 million
2. DiPaola, provost and co-executive vice president for health affairs: $1.48 million
3. Barnhart, athletics director: $1.43 million
4. Monday, executive vice president for finance and administration and co-executive vice president for health affairs: $1.36 million
5. Bush Hamdan, football offensive coordinator: $1.35 million (Hamdan has left UK for the same position at Mississippi State.)
6. Michael Sekela, professor and chief of cardiothoracic surgery: $1.25 million
7. Capilouto, president: $1.12 million
8. Rasesh Desai, associate professor of orthopaedic surgery and sports medicine: $1.11 million
9. Hassan Reda, professor of surgery: $1.1 million
10. Chaitanya Malempati, associate professor of orthopaedic surgery: $1.08 million
How to search the database
To search for an individual employee, type their first or last name into the “name” field and click search. The database is also searchable by college, department, salary or job title.
To see the entire salary database, click the search button without filling out any fields. From there, the database can also be sorted by name, department, position, or salary by clicking on one of the column headings.
If you are unable to see the database or having trouble accessing it, use this link to open it in your browser.