A Penn State alum will be its next executive vice president and provost after year-long search
Nearly a year after Penn State named an interim executive vice president and provost, a permanent replacement has been announced.
Fotis Sotiropoulos, currently the provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University, will be Penn State’s next executive vice president and provost, effective Aug. 11, the university announced Tuesday.
Sotiropoulos is a world-renowned researcher in computational fluid dynamics, the university said in its release, and has more than 35 years of higher education experience. He’s been at VCU since 2021.
President Neeli Bendapudi said she’s thrilled to welcome Sotiropoulos, who is a Penn State alum, back to the university.
“Fotis is a forward-thinking leader and scientist who is prepared to help us deliver the highest value to students, create an environment that provides opportunities for growth and empowerment for all faculty and staff, and uphold and advance our university’s mission,” Bendapudi said. “We are in a time of transformative change where we must adapt in order to continue to offer the best student experiences, meet the challenges facing higher education, and support our faculty and staff in their professional endeavors — so they in turn can support our students. Fotis cares deeply about Penn State and has the ability to bring people and perspectives together in support of our greater purpose.”
Sotiropoulos said when he arrived from Greece as a first-generation student, State College was his gateway to the United States and to the “transformative power of a Penn State education.”
“The opportunity to return to my alma mater — an institution that played such a pivotal role in my journey — is both an honor and a deeply meaningful homecoming. Having once walked these halls as a student, I am deeply aware of Penn State’s academic excellence, its land-grant mission, and its unwavering commitment to impact. The University’s mission to advance teaching, research and public service aligns fully with my own dedication to student success, academic innovation, and interdisciplinary research that improves lives,” Sotiropoulos said.
In the role, Sotiropoulos will be the chief academic officer and report directly to the president. He’ll work closely with deans, chancellors, faculty and staff to set and lead Penn State’s academic priorities, the release states. He will oversee all academic units, serve on the president’s council and the chair of the academic leadership council.
The university’s release highlights a number of his accomplishments at VCU that he worked on with academic leaders, faculty and staff. They include designing and implementing an enrollment and student success strategy that reversed enrollment decline, launching a new School of Life Sciences and Sustainability, developing new curricular offerings to have all students be AI literate, and stabilizing the academic budget in a time when it was under financial strain.
“The Penn State search committee highlighted Sotiropoulos’ visionary leadership style, focus on pursuing excellence, and commitment to the success of all students, faculty and staff, along with experience in enrollment growth, strategic planning and curriculum transformation, research innovation, and resource management and operational efficiency among the factors that made him the ideal candidate to serve as provost,” the release states.
Before his time at VCU, Sotiropoulos was the dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and served as interim provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Stony Brook University. He has a diploma in mechanical engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, a master’s in aerospace engineering from Penn State, and a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Cincinnati.
Tracy Langkilde has been serving as interim executive vice president and provost since April 2024 and will continue to do so through Aug. 11. She was named the interim when Justin Schwartz left to be the chancellor of the University of Colorado Boulder.
Bendapudi said Langkilde served “admirably” as the interim provost.
“In a critical time, Tracy stepped up for Penn State and for our students, faculty and staff, and she has continued to show up every day to advance critical academic, research, student success, graduate education, and retention priorities during this transitional and transformative time for the University,” Bendapudi said. “The entire leadership team is extremely appreciative of her dedication and commitment. I am honored she is a member of our academic leadership team, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with her for the benefit of Penn State.”
