President-elect Neeli Bendapudi visits Penn State Altoona

Editor's note: This spring, Penn State President-elect Neeli Bendapudi is traveling the commonwealth as part of a listening and learning tour to meet and engage in conversation with students, faculty, staff and community members at each Penn State campus.

ALTOONA, Pa. — Penn State President-elect Neeli Bendapudi visited Penn State Altoona on Wednesday, April 20, as part of a listening tour to meet with students, faculty and staff across the Commonwealth Campuses.

During her time at Altoona, President-elect Bendapudi held town hall Q&A sessions with students, faculty, staff, donors and community leaders. Topics of discussion included the state of the University, challenges currently facing Penn State Altoona and her vision for Penn State’s future.

President-elect Bendapudi will begin her tenure as Penn State’s 19th president on May 9. With a nearly 30-year career in academia, Bendapudi previously served as president of the University of Louisville. Among her leadership experiences, she also has served as provost and executive vice chancellor at the University of Kansas, dean of the School of Business at the University of Kansas and as founding director of the Initiative for Managing Services at the Ohio State University. In addition to consulting for some of the world’s largest companies and organizations, she was the executive vice president and chief customer officer for Huntington National Bank. With a research background in the study of consumer behavior in service contexts, she has taught marketing at a variety of higher education institutions and been recognized for her leadership, academic and teaching accomplishments. Bendapudi earned her bachelor’s degree in English and master of business administration degree from Andhra University in India and her doctorate in marketing from the University of Kansas.