A native of Rockcastle County, Kentucky, Gonzalez has served as UofL executive vice president and university provost since April 2021.

“I am humbled to step into this leadership role at a time when our university has tremendous momentum,” Gonzalez said. “Our students are flourishing; our faculty are changing lives; our staff members are performing at an extraordinary level; and our passionate and loyal supporters, alumni and fans have never been more committed to elevating the University of Louisville.”����

Gonzalez previously served from 2015 until the spring of 2021 as the vice chancellor for academic, faculty and student affairs at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis.��Prior to that role, she held academic and administrative positions at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, the University of Kentucky and Appalachian State University, where she served as provost and executive vice chancellor for three years.

In addition, she served as special advisor to the senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of North Carolina General Administration, the North Carolina public higher education authority.

In her first act as interim president, Gonzalez appointed deputy athletic director Josh Heird as interim director of athletics, effective immediately. Heird has been deputy AD since 2019.

I write with mixed emotions to share with you that I have accepted the position of President of Penn State University.

The decision to embark on a new chapter in my professional journey was not an easy one. I will miss our students, our faculty, our staff, our retirees, our alumni and our supporters, and I will miss my senior leadership team. All of you are among the best in the nation and are the heart and soul of our institution.��

Michael Wade Smith, vice president for university relations and chief of staff, will join my team at Penn State.

Leaders of great institutions are simply temporary stewards called to take great care of the mission and the people and to leave them better than they found them. Together, we have accomplished much, advancing the University of Louisville on several fronts. The academic profile of our incoming students has never been stronger; our research funding never higher; our Foundation never more stable; our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion never more robust; our facility transformations never more noticeable; our new brand and online presence never more impactful; our UofL Health system never better staffed, funded and appreciated; our work to improve our community, the Commonwealth and the world never more evident. And we have done it all during an unprecedented worldwide pandemic and through the painful tragedies of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

I have complete confidence this important work will continue and that the University of Louisville will rise to greater heights.

This is not goodbye. Over the next days and weeks, I will work closely with the Board of Trustees to ensure a smooth transition. I will always carry Louisville and the Cardinals in my heart.

Go Cards!

Sincerely,

Neeli Bendapudi

During the annual day of giving, which occurs during Homecoming week, more than 2,450 donors contributed to the 2021 total of $2,932,603. The number of donors surpassed the initial goal of 2,021 and the previous record of 2,206 donors set in 2019 as alumni, employees, students, friends and organizations gave to their favorite UofL areas where they wanted to make an impact.

“As a national metropolitan research university, the University of Louisville is thrilled that donors from all 50 states support us,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. “We can’t achieve success without the aid of our donors, and again this year, they have come forward from throughout the United States to fund the programs, projects and initiatives we execute. I thank them, one and all.”

��A highlight among several large gifts was Delta Dental’s commitment of $1.07 million to the UofL School of Dentistry, celebrated by the campaign Oct. 20 at the Health Sciences Center with a live social media segment. Other gifts included $400,000 to the UofL Health Brown Cancer Center from the Thomas Dunbar family, $112,000 to the College of Business from Yum! Brands (parent company of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut) and $100,000 to the College of Arts and Sciences from alumna Monica Pearson ’75.��

The HSC and Belknap Campus each had a special campus headquarters during the fundraising period where students who donated at least $10 could snag a pair of Cardinal socks and where donors could commemorate their giving spirit with a selfie taken against a giant “I Raised Some L” backdrop.

The fundraising site featured more than 560 initiatives, including individual colleges and schools, student scholarships and student-led organizations.

“Once again, our Cardinal Family stepped up to give back to our university and the areas they believe in,” said Jasmine Farrier, vice president of university advancement. “This record-breaking support shows that the University of Louisville is vitally connected to our alumni, the community, commonwealth and beyond.�� We are grateful to our alumni, staff and faculty ambassadors who spent countless hours sharing updates about our programs across Belknap and Health Sciences to inspire Cardinals to learn more about student success, research innovation and community engagement at UofL.”

The Raise Some L campaign ran for 1,798 minutes, starting at 6:02 p.m. Oct. 19, in honor of the university’s founding year of 1798.

The five separate renewable power agreements were filed through the Kentucky Public Service Commission and were the result of each organization’s participation in LG&E and KU’s Green Tariff Option Three. Approved in 2019, the utilities’ Green Tariff rolls the LG&E and KU Green Energy and Business Solar programs under one tariff, providing a third option for customers – the renewable power agreement. This offering is a part of LG&E and KU’s continuing effort to enhance sustainable energy options for residential, commercial and industrial consumers within the commonwealth. It also fits into UofL’s sustainability initiatives.

Recently named the most sustainable university in Kentucky, UofL aims to honor the Carbon Commitment re-signed by President Neeli Bendapudi in August by undertaking various sustainable initiatives. In additional to various institutional efforts, also offers a variety of events and learning opportunities for faculty, staff and students interested in furthering sustainability at the university.

“At the University of Louisville, we take seriously our commitment to integrate sustainability into everything we do,” Bendapudi said. “Through this contract, more than 30% of the energy at our Belknap Campus and over 15% of UofL’s total electricity demand will be met by solar power. This alone will cut our greenhouse gas emissions by another 9% from 2020 levels, advancing our efforts to shrink the university’s carbon footprint to zero by 2050.”

The 125-megawatt solar facility, expected to be operational in 2025, will be one of the largest solar projects undertaken in Kentucky. As a state largely associated with nonrenewable energy sources, the RPAs and construction of the new solar facility demonstrates a substantial commitment to clean, sustainable energy by some of the commonwealth’s most prominent companies and educational institutions.

Based on the agreements, the utilities will supply UK with 44% of the facility’s energy output, the biggest portion of its generation. North American Stainless will be served with 36% output from the facility. The University of Louisville and The Chemours Company will each be supplied with 8% of the generation. Dow, which has already committed to receiving 25% of the energy output from a separate facility as part of a 2020 RPA, will receive 4% of the output from this newest facility.

“UofL is committed to integrating sustainability into everything we do, from how we manage our facilities, finances and people to what we teach in the classroom and what we research in the lab,” said Justin Mog, assistant to the provost for sustainability initiatives. “At UofL, everyone has a role to play in making our university more sustainable and tackling the existential threat posed by the global climate crisis.”

Neeli Bendapudi was born in Visakhapatnam, India, and came to the United States in 1986 to pursue her doctorate in Marketing at the University of Kansas. After earning her PhD, she went on to teach at Texas A&M University and The Ohio State University before returning to the University of Kansas in 2011 as the School of Business dean and Professor of Business. While there, she was promoted to Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor.

Bendapudi moved to Louisville in 2018 to take on the role of president at UofL, the first permanent female president and person of color to hold the position.

Her research has been published in top tier journals including the Journal of Academic Medicine, Harvard Business Review and Journal of Marketing, and featured by media outlets including the New York Times, CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, WebMD and Fox News Network. She has experience on public and private boards and served as EVP and Chief Customer Officer of Huntington National Bank.

Bendapudi has sat on publicly held and non-profit boards and is a former Leadership Foundation Fellow of the International Women’s Forum, selected as one of 27 women representing 18 countries for this prestigious honor.

In her career, she has fought for equity and inclusion and in her time at UofL, has transformed the university’s culture, infusing a renewed passion in the city and community. The JFCS recognizes Bendapudi’s continued call to the university community and the Louisville community at large to celebrate diversity and foster equity in order to achieve inclusion.

“Like Neeli, JFCS respects the undeniable humanity of each person. This sentiment is one of our guiding values, called Kavod. Every day our staff serve clients and their families with Kavod because we believe that to truly serve all in Greater Louisville, we must first understand their strength and their story,” the organization stated in a blog post.��

She is one of five total recipients of this year’s award. Others include:

• Di Tran (Vietnam), a a business owner who launched the Louisville Beauty Academy in 2016. Tran received his master’s degree from UofL.��
• Berta Weyenberg (Cuba), who is the English as a Second Language Intake Center coordinator at JCPC.��
• Kaveh Zamanian (Iran), who was a clinical psychologist and certified psychoanalyst for 20 years before becoming founder, CEO and whiskey maker of Rabbit Hole Distillery in 2012.��
• Bapion Ziba (Burkina Faso), owner of Ziba’s Bistro in the Logan Street Market.��

Benadapudi and the rest of the MOSAIC Award winners will be recognized at a virtual event May 27 at noon on the JFCS social media channels, @jfcslouisville and website, jfcslouisville.org.��

Since 1982, Kosair Charities has been a solidly dependable supporter of children’s health programs at the University of Louisville. This year, total donations have reached more than $50.4 million.

Moving the total past the $50 million mark this year is over $1 million in funding from the charity – the largest in Kentuckiana – to support programs in pediatric forensic medicine, neuro-recovery and cancer research, along with the Center for Women & Infants at UofL Hospital.

“Kosair Charities has made immeasurable contributions to the University of Louisville, this community and beyond. I believe what makes a partnership great is a shared vision. And that is certainly the case with Kosair Charities and UofL,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. “Kosair Charities has given to so many areas across the University of Louisville, and the impact can be felt far and wide throughout our community, region and beyond.”

“Louisville is my home, UofL my school, and Kosair Charities is my passion. It is special to be able to pull it all together to help children move forward,” said Keith Inman, president of Kosair Charities. “For almost 100 years Kosair Charities has had one mission, one focus, and that is for children to overcome their obstacles and reach their full potential. For 38 of those years, the University of Louisville has been an important partner, as we have invested in research, programs, facilities and people at the university who can make that vision, that mission a reality.”

The support is as important to UofL for its consistency as much the dollars donated, said UofL Vice President for Advancement Jasmine Farrier.

“All philanthropic gifts are impactful, but this level of extraordinary support given consistently over decades is truly transformational,” Farrier said. “We are so fortunate to have Kosair Charities’ commitment to our children’s health programs.”

Recent gifts made by Kosair Charities to the university have helped fund:

• UofL Kosair Charities Division of Pediatric Forensic Medicine: Led by Dr. Melissa Currie, the first board-certified child abuse pediatrician in Kentucky, this division focuses on physical, mental and sexual abuse and neglect in children.
• Kosair Charities Center for Pediatric NeuroRecovery: The gift from Kosair Charities targets paralysis in children with acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), a disease that affects the area of the spinal cord called gray matter, causing the muscles and reflexes in the body to become weak. Although occurrences are relatively rare, cases of AFM have been on a steady increase since 2014.
• Kosair Charities UofL Brown Cancer Center Pediatric Cancer Research: Drawing upon the strengths of researchers and physicians in the UofL Health – Brown Cancer Center, this program applies immunotherapy – the use of the patient’s own immune system – to fight children’s cancer.
• UofL Hospital’s Center for Women & Infants: Kosair Charities funding enables the center to purchase upgraded infant warmers for its cutting-edge Neonatal Intensive Care Unit that cares for the tiniest and most vulnerable newborns.

According to , institutions designated as Military Friendly “strive towards and succeed in the areas that matter most in helping veterans make the transition from the military to school and, ultimately, satisfying careers in the civilian world.”

To earn the designation, Military Friendly evaluates public data and proprietary data gathered through an annual data-driven survey process. Institutions are evaluated in six weighted areas:

• Academic Policies & Compliance
• Graduation & Career Outcomes
• Culture & Commitment
• Military Student Support & Retention
• Admissions and Orientation
• Financial Aid & Loan Repayment.

Examples of UofL’s commitment to serving this population include the key functions provided by the Office of Veteran and Military Student Services, pending creation of a Military-Connected Student Advisory Council to build on efficiencies and to share best practices in serving this population, offering waived undergraduate and graduate application fees, and offering priority course registration to this population.

“We are very proud of the almost 7% of our student body who are military-connected and of our staff and faculty who serve this population,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. “Earning this designation is validation of our ongoing work to make UofL a great place to learn. However, we recognize we can always do more and we remain committed to improving how we serve this important population.”

Story written by Kyle Hurwitz, UofL’s director of Military and Online Initiatives.��

Bendapudi presented senators with updates from her meeting with the Counsel on Postsecondary ����ֱ��, which oversees all Kentucky higher education institutions. The counsel assesses all colleges and universities on 29 different metrics of progress. Bendapudi was proud to report that since the 2015/2016 academic year, the university has improved on 26 of the 29 measured metrics. Adult learners over the age of 22, diversity of tenure track staff, and student performance in English were among those areas with room for growth.

Bendapudi stated, “I want to point out that we were the top-ranking university in the Commonwealth for English but relative to where we were (in 2015/2016), there is room for improvement. We are certainly going to be looking at those three areas moving forward.”

In addition to these accomplishments, UofL was the only institution in the Commonwealth to see an increase in enrollment. The university also reported its highest graduation rate with over 60% of students completing degrees within 6 years. Bendapudi attributed the approximate 2.5% growth in enrollment and the record high graduation rate to the hard work of all faculty and staff.

Senators were also informed about an upcoming event with guest speaker, Simon Sinek. Sinek is a renowned speaker, author, and presenter of the third most watched TED Talk of all time. To celebrate the launch of the new Employee Success Center, President Bendapudi will host a virtual fireside chat with Sinek on Feb. 22 at 1 p.m. Faculty and staff were encouraged to attend and learn more about the new Employee Success Center, which aims to improve workplace culture and employee engagement through leadership training, mentoring and coaching. Employees can register for the free virtual event

Executive Vice President and University Provost Beth Boehm provided updates from the Academic Scenario Planning committee. While decisions have not been finalized, Boehm informed senators that there will most likely be an increase in face-to-face instruction during the fall of 2021. A majority of summer courses will be offered remotely, with the exception of some STEM courses that require in-person instruction.

Boehm addressed questions concerning current faculty travel policies. The university is following policies recommended by the CDC, which at present do not differentiate between vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers. It was reported that some faculty members have received approval for domestic travel, and a small number of faculty members have also been approved for international travel relevant to their research efforts. Boehm further recommended that faculty avoid planning student involved trips with agencies requiring nonrefundable deposits.

Executive Vice President for Research & Innovation Kevin Gardner reported that 2020 was a strong fiscal year with a record number of research awards totaling more than $170 million. He reported a record $9 million from translational research and innovation. Gardner further commended the university’s world-class contributions in translational research and innovation throughout the past fiscal year.��

Gardner highlighted the four UofL researchers and innovators recognized for their work at the . Paula Bates, a cancer researcher and serial inventor, was presented with the Innovator of the Year award. Brad Shuck, Theo Edmonds and Laura Weingartner each accepted Trailblazer awards on behalf of their teams for outstanding work in new areas of innovation for the university.��

Committee reports and a of the virtual meeting can be accessed on the . The next Faculty Senate meeting is scheduled for March 3 via Microsoft Teams.

“Innovation is absolutely critical to UofL’s mission,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. “It’s what drives us and inspires us. Our three most important goals as a university are to be a great place to learn, to work and to invest, and the work of these innovators contributes to all three.”��

The second annual event, hosted virtually this year by the and its technology transfer arm, the honored UofL innovators who had recently been awarded a patent or whose technology had been licensed to a company for commercialization in fiscal year 2020, which ended June 30, 2020.��

Two large awards were also presented: Paula Bates was given the Innovator of the Year Award, and Theo Edmonds, Brad Shuck and Laura Weingartner all accepted Trailblazer awards on behalf of their teams. Each was delivered a red-and-black glass flame — the symbol for the event.

“Our office, and UofL as a whole, are committed to taking the brilliant, groundbreaking research happening on our campus out of the lab, out of the classroom, and translating it into inventions and products that improve the way we work and live,” said Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation, Kevin Gardner. “And, this past year, our researchers worked tirelessly to develop innovations that in a very real way, may save lives — all while dealing with the added challenges of COVID-19.”��

Innovator of the Year, Bates, is a serial inventor and , known for a long track record of developing strong partnerships with industry to commercialize her technologies. In 2020, she partnered with other UofL innovators to develop a potential breakthrough in our fight against COVID-19 that is believed to block the virus from infecting human cells. The technology�� to a now publicly-traded biomedical company, which is working with UofL to further develop it for market.

As for the Trailblazers, who are awarded for work in new areas of innovation for UofL, Edmonds accepted the award for the Cultural Wellbeing Index, a tool that helps companies improve corporate culture and organizational wellbeing. To commercialize the technology, Edmonds launched , UofL’s .

Shuck accepted for the Employee Engagement Scale, a software that helps companies measure workforce engagement. The technology’s non-exclusive license to startup Unitonomy marks the — followed by the second and third, also secured by Shuck, when the technology was licensed to two other companies in the same year.

Lastly, Weingartner accepted the award for “,” a first-of-its-kind manual aimed at better-training future medical professionals on caring for LGBTQ and other non-normative patients. The manual is meant to provide resources and guidance so that medical schools, residencies and continuing medical education programs across the country are able to implement training and provide better resources for more equitable care.

All told, fiscal year 2020 was the at UofL, with a total income of $9.4 million driven by a strong year for startups and deals. It also was UofL’s best year on-record for competitive research funding, with total new awards of $170 million.

“This was a great year for innovation and research — also our best year on record,” said Allen Morris, executive director of the Commercialization EPI-Center. “Our innovators all share in that success, and I look forward to continuing that work together in 2021.”

As of Jan. 10, spring semester enrollment was up by 578 students compared to 2020. Bendapudi acknowledged that new online learning opportunities in both the College of Business and the College of ����ֱ�� and Human Development heavily contributed to this figure. She thanked advisors, admissions staff, the financial aid office, student success coordinators, and faculty members for their efforts and contributions toward student success and retention.

Bendapudi provided senators with information regarding the COVID-19 vaccine availability. Vaccination of all university health care faculty and staff is expected to be completed by late January. Next, the vaccine will be offered to UofL employees and students in order of their age groups.��“Our best judgement is to distribute it by age, which is what the best science is telling us. Whether you are faculty, staff, or a student, those who are 65 or older will get it first,” Bendapudi said.

Executive Vice President and University Provost Beth Boehm provided additional information on the age categories for vaccine distribution. They will be available to students, faculty and staff over the age of 65, followed by those 50 and older, and then those under 50. Boehm further noted that there will be four rounds of required testing for individuals operating on campus. Those working completely off campus are not required to be tested.��

Boehm addressed senator concerns about recent vandalism at the Belknap Theatre building on the corner of Floyd and Warnock. The damage has been repaired and the building will have increased security as the matter is investigated further.

Faculty Senate Chair David Schultz presented the charge for the ad hoc committee on inclusion, diversity, anti-racism and equity. The committee will be comprised of one faculty representative from each of the 12 senate units, as well as chair and vice-chair of the Faculty Senate. While non-senators will have the opportunity to serve on the committee, a majority of the representatives must be faculty senators.��

Gary Becker, director of University Parking & Transportation Services, provided updates on campus parking. Parking fees were approved for increase in the year 2020, but the increases were suspended due to the pandemic. Becker reported that the previously approved increase will be recommended to move forward in 2021. The increase will vary between the different types parking permits and will range from a $10 to $21 addition to annual fees.

Becker further reported that university parking has an expected $1.3 million revenue loss due to COVID-19. This expected loss has deferred maintenance on some university parking facilities. Becker informed senators that maintenance on all university parking facilities is planned to occur in the next three to five years.

Committee reports and a of the virtual meeting can be accessed on the . The next faculty meeting is scheduled for Feb. 3 via Microsoft Teams.