UofL President Kim Schatzel
UofL President Kim Schatzel

University of Louisville President Kim Schatzel, who arrived at the university in February 2023, has been recognized for the second year in a row as a Louisville Business First Power 50 professional. 

The Power 50 list identifies the city’s most influential people in business and related communities. Louisville Business First selected honorees from individuals nominated by the public and those covered in the publication’s own reporting and sourcing, and did not include elected officials.

Schatzel secured a position on the fifth annual edition of the list in 2024 after being included in 2023’s “Five on the Rise.” 

Under Schatzel’s leadership, UofL secured a $24 million funding package to launch the Louisville Clinical and Translational Research Center, a statewide effort to transform the university’s clinical research infrastructure and combat chronic conditions that disproportionately affect Kentuckians, like cardiovascular disease, stroke and cancer. 

The UofL president also oversaw procurement of the funding for the new planned Health Sciences Simulation Center and Collaboration Hub at the downtown Health Sciences Center campus, a project made possible by a landmark $280 million investment by the state of Kentucky. The center will increase the impact of the university’s research and health professions education effort, benefitting people across the commonwealth by producing highly qualified physicians, dentists, nurses and public health professionals and fostering collaboration among the city’s health care organizations.

Also returning to the Power 50 list is UofL Health CEO Tom Miller, who has led the university’s academic health system since early 2019 and was the overseer for the recently opened UofL Health – South Hospital. The new facility provides access to health care for residents of Bullitt County and southern Jefferson County.

The 2025 Power 50 list also includes numerous Cardinal alumni and donors, along with current and past members of UofL boards.

Additionally, Business First announced an inaugural Power 50 Hall of Fame category of honorees, all who have UofL-ties. They are:

  • Ulysses “Junior” Bridgeman, most recently the owner of Heartland Coca-Cola Bottling Co. and Bridgeman Sports and Media
  • Christina Lee Brown, philanthropist, UofL Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute
  • Edward “Ed” Glasscock, chairman emeritus, Frost Brown Todd LLC
  • Alice Houston, co-founder and owner, HJI Supply Chain Solutions
  • David Jones Jr., president and founder, Chrysalis Ventures
  • Mike Mountjoy, founding partner and chairman emeritus, MCM CPAs and Advisors (now Cherry Bekaert)
  • Phoebe Wood, principal, CompaniesWood and co-founder of KirtleyWood

The honorees will be recognized in the March 28, 2025, print edition of Louisville Business First, and online around this time.