Kim Schatzel, president of Towson University in Towson, Md., will become the University of Louisville’s 19th president.

Schatzel, 66, will begin Feb. 1, a U of L news release said.?

She succeeds interim President Lori Stewart Gonzalez, who had served in the role since December 2021. Gonzalez will return to her previous role as executive vice president and university provost.?

?Neeli Bendapudi, U of L’s 18th president, left to lead Pennsylvania State University.?

“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,” Schatzel said in the press release. “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.”

Schatzel added that she and her husband, Trevor Iles, were “thrilled to be joining the U of L community” and plan to embrace it, the city of Louisville and Kentucky as their new home. Iles is a lecturer in marketing at Towson University.?

Schatzel became president of TU in 2016. The university has a six-year graduation rate of 72%. Schatzel was previously provost of Eastern Michigan University and dean of the College of Business at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. She is also a professor of marketing.

“Dr. Schatzel brings the best of many worlds to the UofL community,” said Mary Nixon, U of L Board of Trustees chair in a statement. “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.”

A first-generation college student, Schatzel was born in New York. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology and economics from Washington University in St. Louis and her doctorate in business administration, with concentrations in marketing and management of technology, from Michigan State University.?

A news release from TU said Schatzel will remain there through January. An interim leader, who has not been named yet, will take on the role Feb. 1.?

“The fact that Dr. Schatzel was tapped to head a university as nationally prominent as U of L, as highly regarded, speaks to her enormous talent and drive, which we’ve seen up close since she was named TU’s leader nearly seven years ago,” wrote University System of Maryland Chancellor Jay A. Perman in a message to the TU community.