UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi has been selected as one of three co-chairs of a new Association of American Universities (AAU) task force focused on strengthening partnerships between universities in the United States and India.
Bendapudi will be joined by fellow co-chairs Sunil Kumar, current provost of Johns Hopkins University and incoming president of Tufts University, and Robert J. Jones, chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The task force will make recommendations on strengthening academic and research partnerships among institutions of higher education in both nations, with a goal of expanding research partnerships that amplify the positive global impact of scholarship undertaken by American and Indian universities.
“It is an honor to be selected to help fortify the vital relationship between American and Indian universities,” Bendapudi said. “I myself came to the United States from India to earn my doctorate from an American university, and have experienced firsthand what a transformative impact these kinds of partnerships can have. By building stronger bridges between our nations and our institutions of higher education, with a focus on leveraging the enormous potential of research across international lines, we can further empower our faculty and researchers while maximizing the influence of our scholarship for the global good.”
The AAU task force was first announced in conjunction with the launch of the U.S.-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, which was jointly announced by the administrations of U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi in May 2022. The AAU task force’s work directly aligns with priorities of both nations, with the U.S.-India initiative identifying partnerships between academic institutions as a critical component of the wider strategic partnership between the two countries.
“Research partnerships between universities in the United States and international counterparts are crucial to global scientific, educational and economic advancement; that is why these partnerships have always been a priority for the Association of American Universities,” said AAU President Barbara Snyder in a statement announcing the task force. “AAU is proud to work with our Indian counterparts to expand U.S.-Indian research and educational collaboration, and we look forward to working with India’s leading research universities to create a roadmap for a future of even more robust partnership.”
The work of the task force also supports work underway at Penn State. University leadership recently shared with the Penn State Faculty Senate that a group of University leaders are working to refine how the University handles articulation agreements and transfer credits with international universities, with the goal of creating partnerships that help meet the needs of India’s population of college-aged students while creating opportunities for these international students at Penn State’s campuses.
These strategic efforts reinforce Bendapudi’s focus on the importance of preparing students from all backgrounds for lifelong success and the global impact of Penn State’s interdisciplinary research.