By Joe Wilson 

On Nov. 30, U of L named Kim Schatzel to serve as the university’s next president. She will assume the role on Feb. 1, 2023.

The Board of Trustees held a news conference at 11 a.m. after it voted unanimously to appoint Schatzel to the position.

Schatzel has served as the president of Towson University since 2016. Before that, Schatzel served as provost of Eastern Michigan University and Dean of the College of Business at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

Commenting on her appointment, Schatzel said: “The University of Louisville is a historic university with rich traditions that provides leadership to Kentucky as the premier metropolitan research university for the Commonwealth. I am incredibly honored to be chosen to lead such a remarkable institution and look forward to working together with our campus and community partners to advance U of L’s reputation as a preeminent institution nationally recognized for its excellence in research and scholarly work, education, inclusive student success, innovation, the arts, and athletics—all aimed to establish the University of Louisville and the City of Louisville as a nexus for transformative solutions that advance the public good.”

The search for a new president began in December 2021, when Neeli Bendapudi left U of L to serve as the president of Penn State University. Since her departure, Lori Stewart Gonzalez has served as U of L’s interim president. Gonzalez plans to return to her position as Executive Vice President and University Provost.

Since then, the presidential search committee has been meeting privately to discuss potential candidates to lead the university in the future. The search committee partnered with Wittkeiffer, an outside leadership advisory company, to compile a list of qualified candidates.

Mary Nixon, the U of L Board of Trustees Chair, spoke about the announcement: “Dr. Schatzel brings the best of many worlds to the U of L community. Her impressive climb through the academic ranks, as well as her extensive experience both in the business community and in health care, make her uniquely qualified to lead the university into our next chapter as Kentucky’s premier metropolitan research university.”

Schatzel will be the university’s 19th president.

This is a breaking news story. It will be updated as information becomes available.