Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi has been honored with the 2026 Impact Innovations Award for her commitment to integrating public impact into the university’s research mission.
Penn State University’s President Neeli Bendapudi, an Indian American education leader, has been awarded the 2026 Impact Innovations Award. This recognition comes from Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS), a national organization focused on enhancing the societal benefits of research.
The award highlights Bendapudi’s leadership in the Penn State Presidential Strategic Initiative for Public Impact Research (PSI-PIR). This initiative aims to foster research collaborations with government entities, businesses, and communities, emphasizing the vital role universities play in promoting the public good.
“Penn State’s Presidential Strategic Initiative for Public Impact Research represents exactly the kind of institutional leadership the Impact Funders Forum seeks to elevate,” said Angela Bednarek, director of scientific advancement at The Pew Charitable Trusts and chair of the Impact Funders Forum. “PSI-PIR moves beyond individual projects to redesign the systems that enable research to inform policy, practice, and community outcomes. Through President Bendapudi’s leadership to bring together her peers and align internal incentives and national collaboration, Penn State is demonstrating how universities can operationalize research impact at scale.”
Since its inception, PSI-PIR, led by the Evidence-to-Impact Collaborative, has engaged more than 200 students in applied research across 11 campuses in Pennsylvania. The initiative addresses critical issues such as environmental sustainability, public health, workforce development, cybersecurity, education, and overall public well-being.
“Public research universities exist to serve society, and at Penn State, we approach this mission through an interdisciplinary lens focused on solving our world’s most pressing challenges,” Bendapudi stated. “Through the Presidential Strategic Initiative for Public Impact Research, we are proud to build upon our land-grant mission to recognize the power of research that benefits the places we live, work, and study.”
The PSI-PIR promotes public impact through two main efforts: the Presidential Public Impact Research Awards (PPIRA) and the Presidents’ and Chancellors’ Council for Public Impact Research. These initiatives have led to significant advancements, including new harm-reduction models that serve hundreds of community members, tools to enhance nonprofit cybersecurity readiness statewide, environmental monitoring partnerships with state agencies, and workforce data that informs retraining and economic development strategies.
In addition to individual projects, PSI-PIR incorporates learning-oriented evaluations to assess how institutional incentives affect research productivity and societal outcomes. Findings indicate that faculty involved in PPIRA have significantly increased their subsequent research proposal submissions, suggesting that structured support for public impact can stimulate sustained scholarly activity while enhancing societal benefits.
Before her tenure at Penn State, Bendapudi served as president of the University of Louisville. She has held various leadership roles, including provost and executive vice chancellor, as well as dean of the School of Business at the University of Kansas. Her academic career also includes faculty positions at Texas A&M University, The Ohio State University, and the University of Kansas.
Outside of academia, Bendapudi has experience as the executive vice president and chief customer officer for Huntington National Bank. She has consulted for major corporations, including AIG, Procter & Gamble, and the U.S. Army. Her research primarily focuses on consumer behavior in service contexts, particularly regarding customer relationships with brands, employees, and institutions.
Bendapudi holds a bachelor’s degree in English and an MBA from Andhra University in India, along with a PhD in marketing from the University of Kansas. She is a member of the International Women’s Forum, serves on the board of the American Council on Education and Internet2, and is a former Leadership Foundation Fellow.
This award not only recognizes Bendapudi’s achievements but also underscores the importance of integrating research with community needs, a principle that is increasingly vital in today’s academic landscape, according to Advancing Research Impact in Society.