Iowa State University Alumni Association| online edition | fall 2004
Graham Spanier

 


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GRAHAM SPANIER

Education

  • 1969 B.S. and 1971 M.S. in sociology,
    Iowa State University
  • 1973 Ph.D., Northwestern University

His day job

  • 16th president of Penn State University
  • Oversees one of the nation’s largest and most
    comprehensive universities, with 36,000 employees and 83,177 students on 24 campuses, 565,633 alumni, and an annual budget of $2.7 billion
  • Prolific author of 10 books and more than 100
    scholarly publications
  • Chaired the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges and led the
    Kellogg Commission on the Future of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges
  • Nationally recognized scholar in marriage,
    family, and adolescent development

On the side

  • Performs as a highly respected sleight-of-hand magician
  • Plays the “souped-up” washboard with the Deacons of Dixieland jazz band, as well as a couple of blue- grass bands. (“Students are genuinely shocked to see me” late at night, playing at a popular bar near Penn State, he says.)
  • Flies airplanes
  • Organizes white-water rafting and kayaking trips
  • Hosts a viewer-call-in program on public television
  • Plays the bass drum with the Penn State marching band, directs the Penn State glee club, and performs with students in musical theatre productions
  • Occasionally performs as the Nittany Lion mascot during football games

Claims to fame

  • Once known as “Graham the Clown,” performing
    for kids at a local daycare center
  • Ran with the bulls in Pamplona in 2001, an activity that people are still talking about
  • Is a reigning, five-time Penn State co-ed intramural racquetball doubles champion
  • Was the opening act for magicians Penn and Teller

Quirky connection to Iowa State
Spanier met his wife, Sandy, at a “dating and mate selection” non-credit seminar he taught as a first- year grad student in 1969

On living life to the fullest
“Being president of a university is a pretty challenging position. You’re on duty all the time, and you could work yourself to death. So you kind of have to build your fun in, or you would be totally consumed by
the job.”