The University of Louisville Board of Trustees met Wednesday evening for a “special meeting to discuss personnel matters.” Afterward, they announced the university’s president Kim Schatzel had resigned and they had named a new leader: the former provost.
Board members said the change was effective immediately. Schatzel was not present for the meeting.
“The board thanks Dr. Schatzel for her service and wishes her the best in her future endeavors,” said board chair Diane Medley.
During its meeting, the board unanimously appointed former provost Gerry Bradley as the university’s permanent president. Bradley served as provost for 13 months before taking the president’s seat.
“I can't wait to get started,” Bradley said in a brief news conference after the meeting.
Bradley is the university’s 20th president. He’s been at U of L for nearly a decade, after he joined as dean of the School of Dentistry in 2016.
This follows an announcement Tuesday from University of Cincinnati President Neville Pinto regarding the school’s search for a new provost, for which Bradley was a finalist. Pinto said Bradley was “pursuing other opportunities.”
Bradley said the opportunity at U of L came about “in the last several days.”
Board members did not disclose why Schatzel resigned.
“You know, as with any position, times change, the goals of Dr. Schatzel changed, our goals changed,” Medley said.
WDRB first reported on the possibility that Schatzel was leaving her role.
Schatzel took the helm at U of L in February 2023. She previously served as president of Towson University in Maryland, where she established the first Office of Inclusion and Institutional Equity at the university and the first in the state.
U of L has undergone more internal changes in the last few months.
In February, U of L announced a 5-month hiring freeze to address the impact of executive orders under President Donald Trump, WDRB reported.
U of L received several grants to fund research for science and engineering through the National Science Foundation for many years, including last year. The NSF is a government-funded organization that accounts for about 25% of federal support to colleges and universities for research initiatives, according to its website.
The NSF froze its grant reviews in January while the organization assessed Trump’s executive orders.
Among the slew of executive orders, the top Republican leader sought to end government support for diversity, equity and inclusion programs and eliminate funding for scientific research grants to universities.
Some students and faculty criticized what they described as U of L’s “gutting” of its Office of Institutional Equity’s website last month, as a Kentucky House bill that would eliminate DEI initiatives and offices at colleges and universities worked its way through the General Assembly.
Correction: The photo caption in the main image has been updated to reflect that Kim Schatzel led the University of Louisville for two years.
