LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) – Despite working since May 2018, Dr. Neeli Bendapudi was officially inaugurated as the University of Louisville's 18th President Thursday, Oct. 4.
The ceremony at Grawemeyer Hall made Bendapudi the first female president of the university.
Her presidency signifies a new start for a university that was previously engulfed in several scandals.
Former President Jim Ramsey resigned to the Board of Trustees in July 2016, and former Athletic Director Tom Jurich and Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino were fired in October 2017.
During her initial assessment of the university, the former University of Kansas Provost cited those scandals.
"I thought I was looking at a diamond with some mud smeared on it,” Bendapudi said.
Now, her inauguration turns a page in the university's history.
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