UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi and Vice Provost for Penn State Global Roger Brindley have been appointed to key roles on an Association of American Universities (AAU) task force focused on the expansion of research and academic partnerships among higher education institutions in the United States and India.

AAU created the national task force in coordination with the Biden administration’s U.S.-India initiative on critical and emerging technology, which seeks to grow technological and industrial collaboration between the two nations.

Bendapudi will help to lead the task force as one of five co-chairs, and Brindley has been appointed as one of 15 task force members.

Both Penn State leaders are natural fits for this work. Bendapudi was born and raised in India and received a bachelor’s degree and MBA from Andhra University in India before earning her doctorate in marketing from the University of Kansas — following in her father’s footsteps to advance her education at an American university. Brindley, who helps to facilitate Penn State’s many international partnerships, has worked with multiple higher education institutions in India for almost 15 years and has a strong understanding of the Indian education and research landscape.  

The task force will meet monthly to determine focus areas for bilateral research and education cooperation, to identify existing programs that could provide blueprints for future partnerships, and to formulate strategies on how best to move forward.

“At Penn State, we have long believed that meeting the global challenges of our time requires cooperation and collaboration across individuals, institutions and nations,” said Bendapudi. “I am honored to be selected to co-chair this talented and dedicated team — tasked by the White House — to strengthen interdisciplinary partnerships between American and Indian universities to advance innovations in areas such as semiconductor technology, nuclear energy, unmanned vehicles, space exploration, AI and digital infrastructure. Achieving peace and prosperity through the development of resilient, critical and emerging technologies is a shared strategic imperative for the national security of the two largest democracies in the world.

“Our participation reflects the valuable role Penn State plays in American higher education, and I look forward to building on Penn State's existing partnerships with universities in India, and bringing our research and academic expertise to the forefront to support this impactful collaboration.”

Brindley said the work of the task force aligns with Penn State’s focus on growing international enrollments and partnerships, particularly in India, where the University already has a number of collaborations in place with Indian universities.  

“As a globally engaged land-grant university, this work is complementary to other initiatives already underway at Penn State, including currently maintaining over 10 partnerships with Indian universities and enrolling almost 2,000 Indian students,” Brindley said. “The relationship between our two countries is very special, and I’m thrilled at the opportunity to join our AAU colleagues in this critical work.”

Given the growing population of college-age students in India and the work of many Indian universities in establishing new partnerships with other institutions around the globe, Penn State will be carefully considering how best to handle articulation agreements and transfer credits from Indian institutions in the months ahead.

“India is a dynamic country with more than 600 million people under the age of 25,” Brindley said. “With such extraordinary demographic opportunities and challenges, higher education is primed to play a monumental role in accelerating progress toward upscaling and upskilling students, fostering meaningful research collaborations for the benefit of society, and driving strategic socioeconomic progress for both the United States and India.”

Additionally, the University’s research enterprise is positioned to help drive expanded technology collaborations with India. Penn State’s research strategy has had a strong focus on global partnerships, historically partnering with 19 clients in India on 34 projects, including work with corporations, nonprofit foundations, universities, associations and government. 

“It is nearly impossible in today’s world to make advancements in scientific research and technology without international collaboration and cooperation,” said AAU President Barbara R. Snyder in announcing the task force’s membership. “This is why the Association of American Universities is proud to lead this effort to strengthen relationships between leading U.S. and Indian research universities and to lay the groundwork for shared future scientific and economic success.”

Previously, it was announced that Robert J. Jones, chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Sunil Kumar, current provost of Johns Hopkins University and incoming president of Tufts University, would serve with Bendapudi as task force co-chairs. Two additional co-chairs have been added by the AAU: Pradeep K. Khosla, chancellor of the University of California San Diego, and Satish K. Tripathi, president of the University at Buffalo (SUNY).

The task force members, in addition to Brindley, are:

• Heidi Arola, director of global partnerships and director of the Purdue-India partnership, Purdue University
• Venkataramanan “Ragu” Balakrishnan, dean of engineering, Case Western Reserve University
• Ravi V. Bellamkonda, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, Emory University
• Venu Govindaraju, vice president for research and economic development, University at Buffalo
• Amita Gupta, chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins University
• Rajesh K. Gupta, professor and Qualcomm endowed chair, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California San Diego
• Katie Hrinyak, associate vice president for global initiatives and strategy, University of Chicago
• Pradeep Khanna, executive associate vice chancellor for corporate relations and economic development, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• Pramod Khargonekar, vice chancellor for research, University of California, Irvine
• Richard Lester, associate provost for international activities, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Stephen D. Mull, vice provost for global affairs, University of Virginia
• Padma Raghavan, vice provost for research and innovation, Vanderbilt University
• Ramamoorthy Ramesh, vice president for research, Rice University
• Yannis C. Yortsos, dean of engineering, University of Southern California