Graham Spanier 2004

Graham B. Spanier

B.S. 1969 Sociology
M.S. 1971 Sociology
University Park, Pa.

Graham Spanier is one of this country’s most outstanding and creative educational leaders. He served as chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln from 1991 to 1995 and has been president of the Pennsylvania State University for nine years. As the 16th president of Penn State, Spanier oversees one of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive universities, one that encompasses 24 campuses, 36,000 employees, and an annual budget of $2.7 billion. His presidency there has been a remarkable achievement, but beyond that, Spanier has been a national leader in higher education. He has served as chair of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges and has led the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges – positions that have led to significant new directions for America’s public, state, and land-grant universities.

ISU President Gregory Geoffroy says, “It is not an exaggeration to state that Graham Spanier may be the most widely respected university president in America today.”

Spanier received the ISU Alumni Association’s Outstanding Young Alumni Award in 1982.