Penn State Hiring New President Dr. Neeli Bendapudi From University Of Louisville
By John P. Wise/KDKA-TV
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (KDKA) -- Penn State University has its new president.
Dr. Neeli Bendapudi, who took the helm at the University of Louisville during a time of great disquietude there in 2018, was named the next president Thursday.
Penn State says that Bendapudi is "the first woman and person of color" to assume the role at the university.
Onward State, a PSU blog, was first to report the news on its paywalled site. Several outlets in Louisville were next to confirm the report.
Bendapudi took over in Louisville following multiple missteps by her predecessor, Dr. James Ramsey.
At the time of her hiring, the school's athletic department also was mired in controversy, specifically the basketball program. Coach Rick Pitino was implicated in an FBI investigation into corruption at Louisville and several other high-profile NCAA basketball programs, particularly those affiliated with apparel provider Adidas.
Pitino was later fired, as was his boss, athletic director Tom Jurich.
One of Bendapudi's first moves was to remove Vince Tyra's interim tag to replace Jurich as full-time athletic director. Tyra has been credited with cleaning up the athletics program, hiring Scott Satterfield as the school's football coach, and Chris Mack as the new basketball coach.
Also in Bendapudi's early days at UofL, she announced the school would disassociate itself from John Schnatter, the founder of Louisville-based pizza giant Papa John's, following accusations that he used a racial slur on a conference call.
Bendapudi reportedly spent the day Wednesday leading a trustees meeting approving Tyra's possible move to Florida State as it looks to hire a new athletic director.
Then rumors began swirling in Louisville later Wednesday that Bendapudi also was headed elsewhere.
According to Louisville television station WDRB, "a plane owned by Penn State landed in Louisville Thursday morning and is en route back to Pennsylvania, according to online flight records."
Complicating matters even further in Louisville is at least one report of a Tyra confidant telling a reporter Thursday morning that Tyra would stay in Louisville if Bendapudi leaves.
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Prior to 2018, Bendapudi served as the provost and executive vice chancellor at the University of Kansas, where she had earned her PhD., and had previously served as dean of the business school there.
Current PSU President Eric Barron is scheduled to retire at the end of the current academic year.