Courtney Balcombe

Creativity Editor

clb6264@psu.edu

On December 9, before finals week even began for Penn State students, the Penn State Board of Trustees announced President Eric Barron’s successor, Dr. Neeli Bendapudi. In their mass email to Penn State students, they shared that at the time she was President and Professor of Marketing at the University of Louisville. As Penn State’s 19th President, starting in spring 2022, she will make history as the first woman and person of color to serve in this role.

The Board of Trustees described Dr. Bendapudi as “an accomplished and visionary leader with a unique combination of experience in academia and business. Throughout her career … she has consistently invested in helping students, faculty and staff thrive.”

After being named Penn State’s new president, Dr. Bendapudi shared her thoughts on accepting the role.

“Penn State is a world-class university, and I couldn’t be prouder and more excited to join this vibrant community of outstanding students, faculty, staff and alumni throughout the commonwealth and beyond,” Dr. Bendapudi said. “Thank you to the Penn State community and Board of Trustees. I am grateful for this opportunity and will make it my mission to help Penn State reach new heights across each of our campuses.”

According to Penn State, the Board of Trustees were impressed by Dr. Bendapudi’s commitment to research, innovation and economic development. They also liked how her experiences and vision align with Penn State’s modern land-grant mission and values. Members of the board had chosen to interview candidates with the intended effort to identify diverse, high-performing candidates across different genders and backgrounds.

“It was a privilege to serve the University in this capacity on behalf of my fellow students and peers,” said Erin Boas, undergraduate student member of the Presidential Recruitment and Selection Committee and President of the University Park Undergraduate Association. “I couldn’t be more excited to welcome Dr. Bendapudi to Penn State. She is a charismatic, transformational leader who cares deeply about students and has committed herself to advancing all aspects of the student experience.”

In 2016, Dr. Bendapudi served as provost and executive vice chancellor at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, the state’s flagship university, from 2016 to 2018. She also served as Dean of KU’s School of Business between 2011 and 2016. While she served as provost, she led the recruitment of the largest, most diverse and highest-GPA freshman class; expanded funding for first-generation and Pell-grant students; and built strong community, public and private partnerships. As Dean, she was a prolific fundraiser, enabling the construction of the award-winning Capitol Federal Hall for the School of Business.

Since 2018, Dr. Bendapudi has been at the University of Louisville where she oversaw 12 academic colleges, the division 1 athletics program, and integrated academic health system, which includes five hospitals, four medical centers and nearly 200 physician practice locations. She was serving more than 16,000 undergraduate and 6,300 graduate students, according to Penn State.

While Dr. Bendapudi comes in as Penn State’s new President, she leaves the University of Louisville with a bit of controversy.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, recent reports asserted that Bendapudi’s office was heavily involved in a controversial decision to suspend men’s basketball coach Chris Mack, who had secretly taped an assistant who’d targeted him for an extortion scheme. Along with other issues, this instigated reports that Bendapudi had a contentious relationship with athletic director Vince Tyra.

Later on December 8, the Courier Journal reported the Board of Trustees waived Tyra’s non-compete clause in his contract, freeing him up to take the athletic director position at Florida State, where reports have said he will move.

Speaking to Penn State Trustees, Bendapudi exhibited the same charm that made her popular at University of Louisville; she shared that she was “maybe born to wear blue and white.”

“I tend to go by Neeli,” she said, “which, actually, you can Google it, means blue. So as you can see, it seems I was maybe born to wear and cheer on the blue and white.”

Penn State thanks President Barron for his 30 years of service, including the role of President since 2014, and notes there will be a seamless transition between the two leaders.