{"id":121374,"date":"2026-03-13T07:46:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T10:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ces.einnews.com\/article\/899147393"},"modified":"2026-03-13T07:46:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T10:46:39","slug":"chief-academic-officer-at-osu-chosen-as-university-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/13\/chief-academic-officer-at-osu-chosen-as-university-president\/","title":{"rendered":"Chief academic officer at OSU chosen as university president"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Ohio State University head football coach Ryan Day, left, shakes hands with the university’s new president, Ravi Bellamkonda, at Ohio State University on Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo\/Patrick Aftoora-Orsagos)<\/p>\n

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COLUMBUS (AP) \u2014 Ohio State elevated its chief academic officer to president Thursday, moving swiftly past the abrupt resignation of former President Walter \u201cTed\u201d Carter Jr. following revelations about his \u201cinappropriate relationship\u201d with the female host of a podcast for military veterans.<\/p>\n

Trustees voted unanimously to appoint Executive Vice President and Provost Ravi Bellamkonda as Carter\u2019s successor \u2014 bypassing the traditional nationwide search \u2014 and Ohio State\u2019s fourth president since 2020.<\/p>\n

The trustees want what\u2019s best for the university, board chair John Zeiger said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe right leader is already at our university,\u201d he said during a special board meeting, \u201cand his vast experience, his personal values and management skills, his strong record here at Ohio State and his ability to inspire excellence in all those around him give this board great confidence\u201d that Bellamkonda is the right fit.<\/p>\n

Days earlier, the board of trustees confronted Carter about a tip from outside the university. He disclosed that he had \u201cmade a mistake in allowing inappropriate access to Ohio State leadership,\u201d according to his public statement, and submitted his resignation. The retired Navy vice admiral was just two years into a five-year contract under which he made more than $1.1 million a year.<\/p>\n

He did not elaborate on the nature of the relationship, and his statement indicated he and his wife, Lynda, are still together.<\/p>\n

Expressing surprise and disappointment, Zeiger accepted his resignation Sunday and the university said it was investigating Carter\u2019s \u201cinappropriate relationship with someone seeking public resources to support her personal business.\u201d<\/p>\n

JobsOhio, the state\u2019s privatized economic development office, said Carter\u2019s resignation was \u201cpossibly connected\u201d to his relationship to Krisanthe Vlachos, host of what was supposed to be a four-episode veterans\u2019 podcast pilot, The Callout, for which it paid $15,000 an episode. Only one of the sponsored episodes was delivered, and the state entity is trying to claw back its $60,000, the office said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOhio State is a trusted partner and Admiral Carter, sharing our passion for military and veterans, recommended The Callout Podcast as an opportunity to build and engage a military and veteran audience in Ohio,\u201d the office posted on X, \u201cand connect them to the massive job opportunities coming to Ohio\u2019s super sectors like advanced aerospace\/defense and energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

VetEarnUSA LLC, an Ohio business registered by Vlachos on Dec. 20, is part of the investigation, said Ohio State spokesperson Ben Johnson. She listed the address of the operation as that of WOSU Public Media. WOSU has reported Vlachos had a contract with them to record her podcast inside their studios in Columbus. The business filing also listed a St. Louis ZIP code.<\/p>\n

Carter had been a guest on the podcast multiple times.<\/p>\n

Besides its sponsorship stipend to the production, which ran from September to December of last year, JobsOhio said it supplied Vlachos a vendor pass to attend the Consumer Electronics Show \u2013 CES, to \u201cmeet people and identify angles for the remaining three podcasts\u201d owed to the office under their agreement.<\/p>\n

JobsOhio further said that it paid Vlachos $10,000 toward a theater production for veterans called \u201cLast Out: Elegy of a Green Beret.\u201d It was part of the office\u2019s Hometown Heroes program, which brings free programming to military, veterans and their families.<\/p>\n

Lastly, Vlachos had submitted a proposal to JobsOhio, the Ohio State president\u2019s office and others for a mobile job-search app for Ohio veterans, according to JobsOhio social media posts. \u201cWe conducted due diligence and decided not to move forward with any investment,\u201d the office said of the project.<\/p>\n

JobsOhio asserts that it followed all appropriate protocols in its partnerships with Carter\u2019s office and Vlachos, and that there were \u201cno irregularities in our contracting or our vetting process.\u201d<\/p>\n

New president voices optimism<\/p>\n

After the board meeting, Bellamkonda told reporters that stakeholders are certain to have a spectrum of reactions to Carter\u2019s swift departure and potential misconduct, and he pledged to move forward and hold the university to a high standard.<\/p>\n

The university brought Carter on board in 2023 from the University of Nebraska system. He is also a former superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy and he attended the Navy Fighter Weapons School, known as Top Gun.<\/p>\n

Bellamkonda, a bioengineer and neuroscientist, joined the university after holding leadership, research or teaching positions at Emory University, Duke, Georgia Tech and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. He earned his Ph.D. in medical science and biomaterials at Brown.<\/p>\n

He pledged to redouble the university\u2019s commitment to excellence.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking ahead, knowing our collective strengths, I promise you this: Together we will take on hard things that are worth doing,\u201d he said. \u201cHard things that are worth doing in athletics, in healthcare, in education, in fact in all the things we do. We will lead and we will not be afraid to lead.\u201d<\/p>\n

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