Gene and Roz Chaiken welcome President Bendapudi with major gift to Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Gene and Roz Chaiken, Penn State’s 2021 Philanthropists of the Year, have made a habit of surprising new Penn State leaders. In 2019, when Clarence Lang began his tenure as Susan Welch Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts, the Chaikens welcomed him by presenting him with a substantial philanthropic gift for student scholarships.

On May 10, the Chaikens surprised another leader: Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi.

On her second official day on the job, Bendapudi traveled to Philadelphia with her husband, Venkat Bendapudi, and O. Richard Bundy III, vice president for development and alumni relations, to visit alumni and donors and to tour Almo Corporation, the Chaikens’ third-generation family business. After the tour, the Bendapudis and Bundy joined the Chaikens for dinner, during which Gene and Roz handed the new president a seven-figure check to grow the Chaiken Family Trustee Scholarship for students with financial need in the College of the Liberal Arts.

“We wanted to do something special to celebrate [Bendapudi’s] presidency because we have full confidence in knowing she will be an excellent leader for Penn State,” Gene said. “Neeli was very moved when we handed her our gift.”

The Chaikens met Bendapudi for the first time in January 2022 at the College of the Liberal Arts’ Chaiken Scholars reception, an annual event that gives the Chaikens the opportunity to meet their scholarship recipients and inspire the students to use their Penn State educations for the greater good. It was Bendapudi’s first official function as the University’s president-elect, which Bendapudi said had special meaning for her.

“In my language, Telugu, there is a word: ‘boni.’ While not a perfect translation, ‘boni’ means your first supporter in a new venture — the one who sets the tone for the success of the new venture and with whom you have a special relationship,” Bendapudi said. “Gene and Roz Chaiken have become that for me. With this wonderful and completely unexpected gift, they have indicated a show of trust and faith in me as a leader and their continued belief in the power of this institution.

“The fact that it is for student scholarships — a top priority of our University — makes it even sweeter. Beyond that, the graciousness with which they gave the gift is what makes people like the Chaikens truly special, and I am happy to count them among my friends and mentors," she said. "I am delighted and amazingly grateful that the tone for my time at Penn State has now been set by two people as selflessly giving as Gene and Roz Chaiken.”

The funds from the Chaikens’ new gift will be added to the Chaiken Family Trustee Scholarship endowment, established in 2013. To date, nearly 1,000 student scholarships have been awarded, and because of this new influx of funds as well as a recent transformational gift — which made the Chaikens the most generous scholarship donors, the fourth-largest donors overall, and the second largest living donors (after Terry and Kim Pegula) in Penn State history — many more students will receive critical financial assistance to attend Penn State.

“Neeli is such an outstanding person, and it felt appropriate for us to be the first to honor her with a philanthropic gift,” added Roz. “It has always mattered to us that young people are able to afford a Penn State education, so this gift couldn’t go to a better cause.”

“When I began my tenure as dean, Gene and Roz Chaiken welcomed me to the College of the Liberal Arts with open arms and a generous contribution for student scholarships,” said Clarence Lang, Susan Welch Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts. "That gesture signaled to me their belief in the mission of the college and the promise of our students, especially those who face financial difficulty for any number of reasons.

“I was overwhelmed to learn of their new gift to honor Neeli Bendapudi as she assumes her presidency at Penn State," added Lang. "This gift, in addition to all they have given through the years through philanthropy and service, seals the Chaikens’ place not only in Penn State history but in the hearts of everyone associated with the College of the Liberal Arts.”

According to Gene, who had interacted with Bendapudi several times before their May 10 meeting, Bendapudi had joked that she wouldn’t be able to visit the Chaikens and tour Almo Corporation on her first day as president, “but maybe on the second day.”

“She made it happen and kept her promise,” Gene said. “We are so impressed that she would take time out of her busy schedule to come to Philadelphia to see us.”

“Roz and Gene Chaiken have once again demonstrated extraordinary generosity in a way that also marks and celebrates a historic moment in the life of this institution,” Bundy said. “How fitting that these philanthropic leaders chose to make yet another gift to support undergraduate scholarships as a way to welcome our new institutional leader, Dr. Neeli Bendapudi, and help launch her tenure as president of Penn State.”