Hunter
10/28/26
The person chosen to be the permanent director of the University of Iowa’s Center for Intellectual Freedom is still negotiating his compensation with officials.
Iowa Media Wire reports the appointee, University of Nebraska-Omaha political science professor Carson Holloway, still has not agreed to contract terms, and the two sides continue to negotiate. The job posting for the center’s director position has a range of $200,000-$450,000 annually.
The interim Director, Luciano de Castro, resigned effective October 22nd. He was earning a $140,000 salary in that role, in addition to the nearly $304,000 he earns in his capacity as a university professor.
With de Castro’s contract terminated and Holloway’s salary, start date and other employment details still to be determined, the Regents are now in charge of the Center. A three-regent Center for Intellectual Freedom committee consists of board president Robert Cramer and regents Steve Lacy and Christine Hensley. Hensley is also chair of the Center’s advisory council.
de Castro’s tenure included repeated concerns about the UI and regents of obstructing the Center’s progress and limiting his control. Disagreement over the drawn-out search for a permanent director led to a mass resignation of 11 advisory council members, leaving 15.
University of Texas at Austin associate professor Richard Lowery, who led the mass resignation, told the Gazette this week that he wanted leadership to iron out key details of the center’s operations before naming a permanent director, but said they insisted on proceeding without such clarity.
Lowery called Holloway “totally unsuitable for the job,” adding that he seems willing to serve as a conduit for direct control by the university and regent Hensley.