Kansas University Business School Dean Neeli Bendapudi, the first of three candidates for provost, shows off a KU pendant to friends after she spent Monday afternoon at the Adam Alumni Center answering questions about possibly being selected for the job.

Kansas University School of Business Dean Neeli Bendapudi pulled her father’s 47-year-old KU identification card out of a pocket Monday and told a standing-room-only crowd in the Adams Alumni Center why she wanted to be KU’s next provost.

“This is why KU means a lot to me,” Bendapudi said, holding up the card. “I want to do this, genuinely, because it transformed my life and my family’s lives. If I get this opportunity, all I can tell you is my heart and soul will go into this job.”

Bendapudi was the first of three provost candidates to give a public presentation, in which she addressed, among other things, the importance of diversity, liberal arts, student and employee retention, collaborating with other regents universities and making KU a “great place” to work, learn and invest.

The names of the other provost candidates will be announced days before their visits, which are scheduled for later this month. The new provost and executive vice chancellor will replace Jeff Vitter, who left KU in December to become chancellor at the University of Mississippi.

Bendapudi holds a doctorate from KU, and besides serving as business dean since 2011, is an H.D. Price Professor of Business. She has taught at Texas A&M and the Ohio State University, and she has served as executive vice president and chief customer officer of Huntington National Bank.

She was asked Monday to explain, in a 20-minute speech, how a provost could foster an intellectually vibrant campus and advance the educational and research quality of KU.

Bendapudi pointed to diverse voices as one quality that leads to an intellectually vibrant campus, saying, “We must seek them out and encourage them.”

“Let’s be honest, folks, nobody is going to come here as a candidate and not say all these words,” Bendapudi said. “Who is going to come here and say, ‘I don’t believe in an intellectually vibrant campus?’ Talk is cheap.

“Within the business school, we’ve tried to create an environment where people know diverse perspectives are embraced.”

Bendapudi went on to mention the forum the business school hosted in November to discuss issues of race and equality.

Bendapudi had much of the crowd laughing and applauding throughout her speech and a question-and-answer period, including when she asked attendees to “please don’t hold the business savvy against me.”

Her experience in the private sector, she said, would “come in handy” when negotiating on behalf of KU with consultants and vendors.

Bendapudi concluded Monday by listing three of her top priorities if she were to become provost: student retention, research and training, and telling KU’s academic story.

KU’s provost is second in command for the Lawrence campus. Sara Rosen, senior vice provost for academic affairs, has been serving as provost in an interim role since Jan. 1.

The second provost candidate will present from 4 to 5 p.m. April 21 in Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union. The third candidate will present from 4 to 5 p.m. April 25 in the Summerfield Room of the alumni center.

Updates on the provost search are posted online at provostsearch.ku.edu.