Graham Spanier

Graham Spanier

Graham Basil Spanier (born July 18, 1948) served as president of the Pennsylvania State University from September 1, 1995 to November 9, 2011. Prior positions he held include: chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Oregon State University, and vice provost for undergraduate studies at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He was forced to resign in November of 2011, following criticism of his reaction to the Penn State sex abuse scandal. An investigation later determined that Spanier, along with football coach Joe Paterno, athletic director Tim Curley, and school vice president Gary Schultz had enabled sex abuse by former coach Jerry Sandusky by not reporting abuse to proper authorities.

During his tenure as president the campus expanded considerably. This expansion included the creation of the Schreyer Honors College, the College of Information Sciences and Technology, and the Penn State World Campus. It also included the merger with the Dickinson School of Law. As of July 2012, Spanier was still a tenured faculty member at Penn State. He was on sabbatical and had a national security job for the federal government, though the specific position and agency are unknown. On November 1, 2012, Spanier was indicted on charges of conspiracy in the Jerry Sandusky case. He was placed on leave with pay by Penn State on that day.