Ravi Bellamkonda is officially 53 days into his role as the President of Ohio State, and he’s definitely feeling the weight of the job. During his recent sit-down with Stacia Naquin of 10TV, the Indian native opened up about the most awkward question every interviewer has it ready for him: Ted Carter’s controversial exit.
“I’m having as much difficulty reconciling the person and the leader I know and have experienced and the stories that are coming out now through our investigation and others,” The Ohio State’s 18th president said about Ted’s controversy.” But maybe it’s possible that both are true.”
Bellamkonda admitted he learned about his predecessor Ted Carter’s resignation only 12 hours before it went public in March. Bellamkonda was serving as the university’s provost at the time. He was suddenly tapped by the Board of Trustees to step in without a traditional national search. This sudden and consequential transition was a major shock to the campus.
The controversy that forced Ted Carter out was detailed in a massive 47-page investigative report released by the university in late April. In that report, it says that Ted Carter “betrayed” the university’s values by misusing his power to benefit a personal associate and podcaster, who goes by the name of Krisanthe Vlachos. According to insiders, Carter has pressured 14 different employees to help Krisanthe. He even went so far as to push for state funds for her.
New Ohio State president shares priorities, addresses Ted Carter resignation https://t.co/Wqs8DP0L83
— Stacia Naquin (@StaciaNaquin) May 5, 2026
Bellamkonda didn’t sugarcoat the situation. The former provost stated that “nobody wanted it to happen the way it did.” He acknowledged that Carter’s exit left a cloud of “surprise and disappointment” over the school, especially since Carter had been well-liked before the scandal broke.
He knew Carter as a leader and a colleague, so trying to match that version of the man with the scandalous stories coming out of the investigations has been a huge struggle for him personally.
Bellamkonda offered a pretty deep perspective on the scandal, suggesting that “both are true.” He basically means that while Carter might have been a strong leader in some ways, the negative stories coming from the investigation are also part of the reality. It’s a complicated way of acknowledging the damage done without ignoring the person he thought he knew. But he isn’t letting that confusion slow the university down.
Ohio State’s new boss has plans for the university to win the trust of its stakeholders.
Ravi Bellamkonda’s big plan for Ohio State University
The Ohio State is a pioneer when it comes to football, athletics, and leadership in health care. When asked about his number one goal for the university, his answer is simply being the best: “My number one long-term goal is to be the best public university in the country, period. Number one. All right, I like to win.”
Bellamkonda is a winner himself. The man is actually a really accomplished biomedical engineer and neuroscientist. He holds a bunch of patents (11 or so), including some pretty cool tech aimed at treating brain cancer.
Right now, his focus is on improving the academics of the university and launching new programs that further strengthen them.
He’s also leaning hard into the future with a focus on technology. He wants every single undergraduate student to become “AI fluent.” This means they’ll actually know how to use artificial intelligence in their future jobs. On top of that, he’s pushing a $100 million plan to bring in the smartest professors from around the world.
