Penn State board increases longer-term compensation for president Neeli Bendapudi
But her base pay will remain at $950,000.
Pennsylvania State University’s board of trustees voted to increase longer-term compensation for president Neeli Bendapudi and extend her contract, but keep her base pay the same at the president’s request.
Under the plan approved by the board Friday, base pay for Bendapudi, who became Penn State’s president in July 2022, will remain at $950,000.
But her deferred compensation will increase from $350,000 annually to $555,000. Deferred compensation means money is set aside annually in a fund with an agreed-upon date when it can be withdrawn. Bendapudi would be able to access it at the end of her employment.
The board also appears to want to keep Bendapudi around for a while: It agreed to pay her an additional onetime lump sum “completion payment” of $1.5 million if she stays 10 years through June 30, 2032. Her initial contract calls for her to receive a $1.25 million payment if she completes five years.
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“In this demanding era for all of higher education, which requires presidents to set and execute transformational goals, Neeli’s decisive leadership — marked by foresight and willingness to make tough, but necessary, decisions — ensures Penn State’s continued prominence as a world-class institution,” board chair Matthew Schuyler said in a statement.
The board noted Bendapudi’s efforts in addressing a budget deficit, building relationships around the state, and “communicating a resonating vision and message around Penn State’s land-grant mission and its contributions.” Bendapudi recently announced a plan to cut $94 million from its 2025-26 budget, more than half of it at the Commonwealth campuses, to address a budget deficit.
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Board leaders said the compensation is in line with a president who oversees a more than $1 billion research enterprise with a health system, as well as 20 undergraduate campuses across the state enrolling nearly 88,000 students.
Also under the plan, Bendapudi will remain on a rolling five-year contract, with another year added each year unless the board acts by June 30. Her current pact runs through June 2028.
Only one board member, Barry Fenchak, voted no on the new contract terms, calling the move “tone deaf.”