By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
Although she has been at the helm of the University of Louisville since Feb. 1, Kim Schatzel was formally inaugurated as the institution’s 19th president during an investiture ceremony Friday.
“As the world looks for solutions, let the world look to the University of Louisville as a national research powerhouse that creates knowledge and inspires innovation to answer the grand challenges of our time and by doing great work that changes the world,” she said.
Schatzel is one of only 2% of university presidents nationwide with extensive corporate and entrepreneurial C-suite experience. During her inaugural address, she noted she was the first in her family to go to college “like over 35% of UofL students.”
Raymond Burse, vice chair of UofL’s Board of Trustees, invested Schatzel as president and presented the Presidential Medallion. The medallion features the UofL seal, a likeness of Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom.
“She serves as an example for the thousands of students who attend the university in hope of gaining the knowledge and insight that will benefit them for the rest of their lives,” Burse said, noting that Minerva was also known as the goddess of trade, the arts, medicine, poetry and strategy in war, symbolizing fearlessness and strength.
“This combination of traits was unique among the gods. And it mirrors the strengths possessed by our president, Dr. Kim Schatzel,” he added.
2023 marks 225 years that UofL has been the higher education leader in Kentucky’s largest metropolitan area. It was April 3, 1798 when a group of Louisvillians declared their intention to establish an education institution called Jefferson Seminary and began raising funds for their plan. Today, more than 23,000 students attend UofL, which boasts three campuses. This fall, UofL welcomed 3,130 incoming students, breaking a record for the second year in a row.
Before Schatzel was hired in December to come to UofL, she had been president since 2016 of Towson University one of 12 universities that are part of the University System of Maryland. She previously served as provost of Eastern Michigan University and dean of the College of Business at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.