Staff
Infrastructure
Martin Anibaba, MBA, CCNA, CISA, MCSE, TCNA
Deputy Accountability Officer and Audit Executive
859-323-5295
Martin (Adetokunbo) joined UK's Internal Audit staff in March 2006. He holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Microbiology and Business Information Systems and a Master of Business Administration from the University of East London, and maintains CISA, CCNA, MCSE and TCNA certifications. His professional experience includes information technology, business process re-engineering and strategic business information systems management. His responsibilities include risk management, operations and training.
Skylar Bensheimer
Editorial Assistant
Skylar joined the UK Internal Audit team in 2022. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Berea College. He previously worked in publishing as an editor. His responsibilities include editing reports, presentations, and other internal and external documents.
Alaka Boston
Administrative Services Assistant
Alaka joined the UKIA team in 2023. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree and has a strong background in management, project planning and development. Her responsibilities include providing expert customer service to our clients and stakeholders as well as coordinating administrative tasks.
Julie Hoover-Ernst
Communications Manager
(859) 218-5858
Julie joined UK's Internal Audit staff in 2017. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Advertising from Iowa State University. Julie's professional experience includes communications, public relations, marketing and event planning in both the public and private sectors. Her responsibilities are creating the audit reports, blogs, website content and other communication tools used by UKIA.
Mel Jackson
Editorial Assistant
Mel joined the UK Internal Audit team in 2022. She holds a BA in English from Harvard University. Her professional experience includes editorial copy, newsletter and blog content writing, public relations, marketing and web design.
Joe Reed, MBA, CFE, CIA
Chief Accountability Officer and Audit Executive
(859) 257-9734
Joe Reed joined UK's Internal Audit staff in March 2004. He has a Mechanical Engineering degree and a Master of Business Administration from the University of New Haven and maintains CIA and CFE certifications. Joe’s professional experience includes finance, project management and operational management as well as leading workshops. His responsibilities include operations and strategy for the division.
Business Audits
Lindsay Hancock, CPA
Auditor
(859) 257-6208
Lindsay joined UK’s Internal Audit staff in September 2021. She holds Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Accountancy degrees from East Tennessee State University. Her professional experience includes public accounting with an emphasis in income tax preparation. Her responsibilities include assisting with audits and investigations.
Tashira Oladapo
Staff Auditor
(859) 257-3126
Tashira joined UK’s Internal Audit staff in August 2021. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in General Studies from Eastern Kentucky University. Her professional experience is in health care and administrative services. Her responsibilities include performing and assisting with business operations reviews as well as repetitive audits.
Rose Stewart, CPA, CIA
Financial and Business Operations Director
(859) 218-5854
Rose joined UK Internal Audit in July 2016. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and maintains Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) certifications. Her professional experience includes public accounting with an emphasis in financial audits and compliance, along with income tax preparation. Her responsibilities include conducting comprehensive audits and repetitive audits, data mining, and Accountability reviews.
Jason Turco, MBA, CIA
Senior Financial and Business Operations Auditor
(859) 218-5859
Jason joined UK’s Internal Audit Staff in September 2018. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Kentucky. In addition, he has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Kentucky as well as a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) certification. His professional experience spans 18 years at UK and includes being the Division Administrator for Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine and a Senior Accountant for UK Healthcare Accounting. His responsibilities include conducting comprehensive reviews and repetitive audits.
Tiffany Welch, CFE
Staff Auditor
Tiffany joined UK Internal Audit in June 2024. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Kentucky and maintains a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) certification. Prior to joining UK Internal Audit, Tiffany spent much of her professional career working at the Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts managing and conducting special examinations of state, local and quasi-governmental entities. Her responsibilities include conducting comprehensive reviews and repetitive audits.
Information Technology
Chris Canjar
IT Manager
(859) 257-2434
Chris joined the University of Kentucky Internal Audit staff in August 2021. He has a degree in Computer Information Systems and attended the University of Kentucky, studying Political Science. His professional experience spans 20 years of information technology support, systems administration, and project management roles at the University of Kentucky. He previously served as the IT Manager for Strategic Planning and Projects, as well as New Technologies Director for the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment’s Agriculture Communications Services unit. His responsibilities include IT reviews, IT components of comprehensive reviews, and IT infrastructure support.
Randy Ellis, MS
IT Auditor
Randy joined UKIA's staff in February 2024. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Urban Planning and Environmental Sciences from Rollins College and a Master of Science in Library and Information Science from the University of South Florida. His previous roles include Network Engineer, Director of Information Technology and Associate Chief Information Officer. His primary responsibility is conducting IT reviews.
Analytics
Brennan Sidor
Analytics and Investigations Auditor
(859) 562-0860
Brennan joined UK's Internal Audit staff in November 2020. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Eastern Kentucky University. His professional experience includes accounting, data mining, and audit with an emphasis in higher education. His responsibilities include data analytics, and assisting with audits and investigations.
Investigations
Lee Walker, Jr., CFE
Principal Investigations Auditor
(859) 257-2335
Lee joined UK's Internal Audit staff in June 2012. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in education from the University of Kentucky and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) certification. Lee's professional experience includes teaching and administrative services, part of which has been with UK Healthcare and College of Education. His responsibilities include conducting repetitive audits, data mining and investigations.
Consulting
Kelly Walker, CIA, CFE
Consulting Manager
Kelly joined UK’s Internal Audit staff in June 2023. She holds a Master of Forensic Studies: Accounting from Stevenson University and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting with a concentration in Forensic Examination from Bloomsburg University. She maintains CIA and CFE certifications. Her professional experience includes budgeting, data analytics and internal auditing with an emphasis in higher education. Her responsibilities include consulting services.
Health Care
Briana Turner, MPH
Audit Assistant
Briana joined UK Internal Audit team in 2023. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from West Virginia University and a Master of Public Health in Maternal, Child, and Family Health from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Briana’s professional experience includes qualitative health research, mental health research, rural community intervention and implementation.
Accountability Office
Heather Pike
Staff Auditor
Heather joined UK’s Internal Audit staff in October 2022 . She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Western Kentucky University. Heather’s professional experience includes financial operations, legal administrative work, policy compliance and higher education administrative services.
Esther Rugerio
Audit Assistant
Esther joined the UK Internal Audit team in 2023. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from Eastern Kentucky University. Her professional experience includes budget, policy and operational management. Her responsibilities include assisting with audits and investigations.