Penn State extends president's contract

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Pennsylvania State University president Graham Spanier, one of the longest-tenured executives in higher education, has agreed to a three-year extension that will keep him in the job through 2015.

Spanier, who heads a university system with 24 campuses and about 94,000 students, has been at Penn State since 1995. The university said Friday in a statement that Spanier's new deal takes effect July 1, giving him a raise of roughly $80,000, taking his salary to $700,000.

"This is a wonderful vote of confidence and support from the board," Spanier said. "I have always said that this is the greatest job in American higher education and I plan to continue to give my absolute best to Penn State, its students, and our faculty and staff."

The new contract takes Spanier a year beyond a recently announced $2 billion capital campaign scheduled to end in 2014.

Research spending has more than doubled, from $344 million to more than $765 million during Spanier's tenure, and the university's endowment has grown from $364 million to $1.4 billion, the university said.

"The stability Graham has provided to Penn State over the past 15 years and for the next five years is incredible," said Steve Garban, chairman of the university board of trustees. "It's something that just doesn't happen frequently in higher education - or anywhere - anymore."