Neeli Bendapudi will officially take over as Penn State’s 19th president on May 10 following a transitional period that will begin in March, according to the university.
Announced as the university’s next leader in December, Bendapudi will succeed Eric Barron, who will retire on May 9 after eight years in the role.
“I cannot wait to begin to get to know our students, faculty and staff and to become a part of the wonderful Penn State and State College communities,” Bendapudi said in a statement on Wednesday. “I look forward to spending time with President Barron and university leaders to gain a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.”
The former University of Louisville president will meet with members of the President’s Council — which consists of 21 top administrators — through the first quarter of the year before beginning the formal transitional period.
Beginning in March, Bendapudi will attend meetings on-site and remotely with Barron and other university leaders, start touring campuses and continue to meet with university community members.
She also will have meetings with Barron during the transition.
“I look forward to working with Dr. Bendapudi and appreciate her enthusiasm and initiative to meet our community as she prepares to transition into this leadership role,” Barron said. “I was able to follow a similar process at the start of my tenure, and it was very helpful to me. I’m pleased to similarly support Dr. Bendapudi’s smooth and successful transition as the next president of Penn State.”
University trustees have, since the announcement and again on Wednesday, highlighted the importance of a transitional period for an institution as complex as Penn State.
“Penn State is a large, complex university, and this onboarding period will support a seamless transition by providing an opportunity for learning and listening,” Board of Trustees Chair Matt Schuyler said. “Both our current and future leaders are committed to this important time to provide continuity to our students, faculty and staff throughout this change and to enable Penn State’s future success.”
Michael Wade Smith, Bendapudi’s former chief of staff and vice president for external affairs at Louisville, will join her as senior vice president and chief of staff at Penn State in March.
“He is phenomenal,” Bendapudi told Town&Gown this month. “He is a natural leader and a very strategic thinker. I am very thrilled that he is coming with me. He will help me with my strategic priorities and making sure they are carried out.”
Bendapudi’s family will move to State College in the spring. She previously said that she and her husband, Venkat Bendapudi, will be joined by her mother, daughter, son-in-law, and grandson in the move.
The 58-year-old comes to Penn State after serving as Louisville’s president from April 2018 until mid-December. Prior to that she 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.
According to her term sheet with Penn State, her five-year contract includes initial base pay, to be reviewed annually, of $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.
