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 conversations with students, faculty, staff and community members at each Penn State campus.
Penn State President-elect Neeli Bendapudi visited Penn State Brandywine on May 2 as part of her listening tour to meet with students, faculty and staff across Penn State’s campuses. During her tour stop, President-elect Bendapudi shared that the Commonwealth campuses were one of the primary reasons she was drawn to the University.
“From Day One I said there were two things about Penn State that made it really attractive to me compared to other big research universities,” Bendapudi said. “One is the Commonwealth campuses. The Commonwealth campuses make us truly unique in the entire country. There is no other educational institution like this — 96% of our population lives within 30 miles of one of our campuses.”
She also stated she is excited about the opportunity to build on the University’s relationship with Penn State Health and the Penn State College of Medicine.
As she met with faculty, staff, students, alumni, members of the campus advisory board and community leaders, Bendapudi emphasized her commitment to teamwork and collaboration.
“It’s ‘we are’ and it’s not ‘I am,’” she said. “We’re only as strong as the teams and the communities we build. My job is to open doors for a lot of people and I will always remember that I will be judged based on what I do for all of us.”