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University Officials Don't Remember Hiring President's Spouse

The husband of the University of Iowa president will be paid $54,000 this year to attend school fundraisers, although officials who supposedly approved the position have no recollection of doing so.

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Reporter: The Associated Press

The husband of the University of Iowa president will be paid $54,000 this year to attend school fundraisers, although officials who supposedly approved the position have no recollection of doing so.

The university says Ken Mason was appointed in 2007 as both a "presidential fundraiser" and a lecturer in the biology department - earning $107,000 a year.

Sally Mason was hired in June 2007 at an annual salary of $484,000. University spokesman Tom Moore told the Des Moines Register that Ken Mason's hire was part of the negotiations to lure his wife away from Purdue University.

Moore says former Board of Regents President Michael Gartner and former Executive Director Gary Steinke agreed to the deal, but both men told the newspaper that they don't remember approving Ken Mason's hire.