KU School of Business dean selected as provost

LAWRENCE — Neeli Bendapudi, the Henry D. Price Dean of the School of Business at the University of Kansas, today was named the university's provost and executive vice chancellor of the Lawrence campus.

“I am pleased that Neeli Bendapudi has agreed to serve in this important role for our university. A true Jayhawk, her enthusiasm for KU, her creativity and her academic and leadership experience will help us to elevate our stature as a national research university,” said Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little.

Bendapudi has served as dean of the School of Business at KU since 2011. Before coming to KU, she had been a professor at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business since 2008. She began at Ohio State as assistant professor in 1996, before becoming an associate professor in 2002. Previously, she was an assistant professor of marketing at Texas A&M University.

She earned a doctorate at KU in 1994 after coming to the United States from India.

She will assume the role of provost and executive vice chancellor July 1.

“I am thrilled for the opportunity to serve my alma mater in a new capacity and look forward to working with people across campus to make it an even better place for our students, our faculty and our staff to learn and to work,” Bendapudi said. “This is a truly wonderful place that means so much to me and my family, and this opportunity is a dream come true for me.”

Bendapudi has consulted for dozens of the world’s largest companies, including Procter & Gamble, Deloitte & Touche and Cessna. She has also served on corporate boards and currently sits on the board of MRI Global, a national nonprofit research organization.

Her academic research focuses on how customers evaluate which service providers and organizations best meet their needs and when they merit long-term relationships.

Steve Warren, professor of speech-language-hearing and an investigator in the Life Span Institute, served as chair of the search committee for the position.

 “After a national search that yielded a very strong field of candidates, I am glad we were able to find the right person for the job here at KU. Neeli Bendapudi’s familiarity with our university and her distinctive leadership skills will make her an excellent provost for KU,” Warren said.