Kim Schatzel is used to being the first woman to fill a role. She was happily surprised to learn that wouldn’t be the case when she became president of Towson University, the second-largest public university in Maryland. Schatzel, who has served as president since January and was inaugurated in September, got her start at a Ford Pinto assembly plant before heading a company that manufactured car parts. Schatzel described her transition to academia, where she rose from marketing professor to dean at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and then served as provost and interim president at Eastern Michigan University. She also discussed mentorship, addressing student concerns around diversity and social justice, the challenges of her job and her vision for Towson University.