Bendapudi’s love of learning creates passion for teaching

Many college students, have had the opportunity to learn from at least one special teacher who has pushed them academically and displayed a contagious enthusiasm for the subject they teach.

For many students, assistant professor Neeli Bendapudi is that special teacher.

Bendapudi was one of the recipients of the Ohio State 2000-2001 Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching. The recipients of this annual award are nominated by students and colleagues and then are chosen by a committee comprised of students, faculty, and alumni. More than 300 faculty have received this award since it was created in 1960.

Recipients of the Distinguished Teaching Award receive $3,000 donated from the Alumni Association and a $1,200 increase in their base salaries. They are also inducted into Ohio State’s Academy of Teaching, which strives to improve teaching at the university.

Bendapudi said receiving the award was a complete surprise and she never expected the honor at this stage in her career.

“To be recognized across the university where there are so many talented professors is something beyond anything I have experienced, and it is definitely a big plus,” Benapudi said. “It will always be among one of my most cherished memories, without a doubt.”

Since Bendapudi’s arrival at OSU in 1996, she has taught managerial marketing and promotional strategies at the undergraduate level. She has developed and taught a services marketing course at the MBA level that Business Week magazine mentioned as one of Fisher College’s most recommended courses.

She received the Pace Setters Undergraduate Teaching Award in 1998 along with AMA Marketing Professor of the Year Award that same year.

Also in 1998, she was the faculty honoree at the SPHINX and Mortar Board Senior Faculty/Staff Recognition Reception.

In 2000, she received the MBA program’s Outstanding Elective Professor Award from that year’s class.

Bendapudi said teaching is a passion that grew out of a strong emphasis on education during her childhood in Vizag, India.

“I guess teaching is almost in my blood because both my parents are professors, and I grew up in a small university town, which I was very comfortable in that environment,” Bendapudi said. “Also, the schooling I received had a heavy emphasis on education.”

Bendapudi received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Andhra University in India where she took a consumer psychology course that sparked her interest in marketing.

“The professor that I had was a wonderful role model. She really encouraged me to pursue this,” said Bendapudi.

Bendapudi traveled to the states to study marketing at the University of Kansas, where she earned her doctorate. She went on to teach at Texas A&M University for two years before she and her husband, Venkat were offered positions at OSU. Bendapudi said one of the reasons they accepted the positions at OSU was due to the engaging faculty and administrative members of Fisher College.

“In the marketing department, there is a core group of us that eat lunch together each day,” Bendapudi said. “Having supportive colleagues makes a huge difference.”

Bendapudi said, there are no specific characteristics or traits that allow her to excel in teaching.

“It probably is that my students know that I really enjoy being there with them and I truly want them to get excited about what I teach as I do,” Bendapudi said.

Jeremy Williams, a senior in marketing, said that Bendapudi’s teaching style is upbeat, energetic, and engaging.

“I have learned from this class to be excited and enthusiastic about what you do. It will make your life and your work so much more worthwhile,” Williams said.

“Neeli is more interested in us than other teachers; she genuinely cares,” said Carol Wojtkowski, a senior in marketing.

Aside from teaching, Bendapudi is active both inside and outside the university community. She serves both as an adviser and as a mentor, and she has led several committees. Outside the university, Bendapudi has worked extensively in marketing research and with organizations such as Children’s Hospital.

“It is really important to be doing cutting-edge research because if you are not doing that then what you bring to your students is just what someone else wrote in a textbook, it’s not life experience,” Bendapudi said. “I can come in and say, ‘ Look I have worked with this company and that company and these are the skills you need to have and these are the problems that are important.’”

Bendapudi is a dedicated teacher who works extensively to improve the level of teaching at OSU, said Robert Burnkrant, chairman of the marketing department.

“She has made presentations on teaching, published articles on teaching, and she is very open to working with faculty and Ph.D. students on issues regarding teaching,” said Burnkrant.

“She is sought out by her students probably a lot more than other faculty are for advice and she is very receptive and interested in talking to students wherever she runs into them,” said Burnkrant.

Bendapudi attributes a large support system of family, colleagues, and friends to her success in balancing teaching and family life. Aside from being a wife, professor and professional she is also the mother of an adolescent daughter.

“My number one supporter is Venkat. Without him none of this would be possible,” said Bendapudi.