Meet the Provost

Kathryn (Katie) Cardarelli is the university provost for the University of Louisville. In this capacity, she is second in authority over the university, serves as the chief academic officer, and oversees all colleges, schools, and deans.

Cardarelli joined UofL as dean of the School of Public Health and Information Sciences in April 2024 after 10 years at the University of Kentucky, where she served in several positions, including senior associate provost for academic affairs. She also served as associate dean, college diversity officer, department chair and assistant/senior assistant provost for faculty affairs at UK. Her research focuses on community-engaged approaches to reducing chronic diseases in rural and urban communities. She has served as principal investigator on more than $10 million in grants funded by the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States Department of Agriculture and other sponsors.

A professor of health, behavior and society, Cardarelli received her Master of Public Health degree at University of North Texas School of Public Health Fort Worth. She went on to earn a doctorate in epidemiology at University of Texas School of Public Health Houston and completed the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine fellowship at Drexel University.

The university provost manages both the day-to-day and long-term academic operation of the university. The university provost provides leadership for the academic affairs of the university and not only is responsible for setting the university’s academic course, through collaboration with faculty, staff and students, but also is charged with assuring that it stays on course. The university provost is an advisor to the university president and acts as president during presidential absences.