Neeli Bendapudi Named Next President of Penn State

Neeli Bendapudi, president of the University of Louisville for the past three years, will be the next president of Penn State.

The university’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved Bendapudi’s appointment as Penn State’s 19th president during a meeting on Thursday morning at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center.

Bendapudi, 58, will be the first woman and first person of color to serve as Penn State president. She succeeds Eric Barron, who announced earlier this year his plans to retire at the end of his current contract in June 2022 following eight years as the university’s top administrator.

“Being president of this institution is a sacred trust and the honor of a lifetime,” Bendapudi said. “I’m truly in awe of Penn State’s ‘We Are’ spirit and of the transformative power of the Penn State community, which is like no other, anywhere. I couldn’t be prouder or more excited to join this vibrant community of outstanding students, faculty, staff and alumni throughout the commonwealth and beyond.

“I know this is an amazing place, I really do. And I’m very grateful to President Barron for his outstanding work to prepare this university for excellence in the 21st century. President Barron, I recognize my good fortune in taking the reins at this time and from you. And as is true with every successive leader, it is now my mission and my commitment to help Penn State reach even greater heights across each of our campuses.”

Board of Trustees Vice Chair David Kleppinger, who co-chaired the 19-member Presidential Recruitment and Selection Committee, said 80 individuals were selected for meetings and conversations with the committee and a target candidate list of 50 candidates was further developed. That list was narrowed to 11 candidates for interviews.

“In Dr. Bendapudi, we have found a values-driven leader who will help realize the very best of this institution, and will successfully lead Penn State into the future,” Board Vice Chair David Kleppinger, who co-chaired the Presidential Recruitment and Selection Committee, said in presenting the nomination. “Through my discussions with Dr. Bendapudi, it was clear that she is an authentic person of the highest integrity. She has strong academic values; she is deeply committed to students, faculty and staff; she’s dynamic and accessible; she is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion; and she is a savvy business and financial manager.”

Trustees approved a five-year contract for Bendapudi from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2027. Her initial base pay, to be reviewed annually, will be $950,000, with $350,000 in annual contributions to a deferred compensation plan, a completion payment of $1.25 million at the end of five years and two transition payments of $100,000 in 2022 and 2023.

The contract provides retirement, health, fringe benefits available to senior officers, as well as a limited number of hours of private use of university aircraft. Bendapudi also will be eligible for immediate tenure in the Smeal College of Business.

Subcommittee on Compensation Chair Kathleen Casey said the committee’s compensation consultant found the contract to be “reasonable” based on the peer market.

Before being named Louisville’s president in April 2018, Bendapudi was provost and executive vice chancellor at the University of Kansas, where she previously earned a Ph.D. in marketing in 1994. She was a professor of marketing for two years at Texas A&M and 15 years at Ohio State before returning to Kansas in 2011 to become the School of Business dean and a professor of business.

Born in India, Bendapudi earned earned a bachelor’s degree and MBA from Andhra University before moving to the United States to pursue her doctorate.

During her tenure at Louisville, Bendapudi has prioritized inclusivity, openness and transparency, as noted in her four-year strategic plan. She notably took swift action to remove the name of Papa John’s from the Louisville football stadium and erased its founder’s name from the school of business after pizza mogul and former Louisville trustee John Schnatter was heard using the N-word on a Papa John’s conference call.

Earlier this year, Louisville’s Board of Trustees raved about Bendapudi’s performance as they awarded her a new contract and raise. During her tenure, the university stabilized its budget and improved its credit rating, set a school record of $170 million for research funding, saw its highest enrollment in decades, strengthened and expanded the UofL Health system with key acquisitions and attained a substantial rise in national and international university rating, including a move from 538th to 499th in U.S. News & World Report.

“Neeli Bendapudi is the whole package and she has demonstrated it in so many ways,” Penn State Trustee Bill Oldsey said. “Her body of work at the University of Louisville has been superb, facing a number of significant challenges, financial and organizational, since her arrival there in 2018. And her ability to collaborate, to problem solve, to innovate and to lead are very well documented.

“She exudes infectious enthusiasm for Penn State and our future. She knows instinctively how to genuinely connect people and she did so with those of us on the committee and beyond.”

Erin Boas, president of the University Park Undergraduate Association and a member of the search committee, said that in her time with Bendapudi, she has learned lessons about the maximizing potential and skills for post-graduation success, the importance of accessibility and communication and the transformational power of investing in people

“Both my personal interactions and the insight provided by her peers have proven to me that Dr. Bendapudi will attempt the impossible for her community, especially when students’ best interests are on the line,” Boas said. “Consider that she doubled need-based aid, bolstered emergency student funds, and committed to making the University of Louisville the nation’s premiere anti-racist University-these are just some examples of her transformative power.

“But what is most remarkable is her ability to personally connect and value every person she interacts with. I’m confident that Dr. Bendapudi will be a next generation transformational leader by bringing these lessons, and many more, to life at Penn State. Dr. Bendapudi is an authentic servant leader who will inspire past, current, and prospective students. I’m thrilled to support her for the Penn State presidency, and I hope you join in my enthusiasm to welcome her to the Penn State community.”

According to her Louisville biography, Bendapudi specializes in studying consumer behavior and services. Her research has previously appeared in academic journals, the Harvard Business Review, and mainstream news outlets like The New York Times and CNBC. Additionally, Bendapudi sits on the Board of Directors for the Lancaster Colony Corporation. She’s a former Leadership Foundation Fellow of the International Women’s Forum.

Bendapudi and her husband, Venkat, have one daughter.

Onward State’s Matt DiSanto contributed to this report.