PSU poised to heal with new presidential hire

A still fractured Pennsylvania State University came together Monday afternoon in perhaps the most unified showing since the child sex abuse scandal: Its board of trustees unanimously voted to hire a president.

Eric J. Barron, a noted climatologist with 20 years experience at Penn State and most recently almost four years at the helm of Florida State University, will start on or before May 12.

"I hope the winds of change are blowing in the form of a renowned climatologist named Eric J. Barron," said Penn State trustee Anthony Lubrano. "It's time to bring us all home. We want to return. We want to heal. We just need a leader to show us the way."

Barron, 62, got a five-year contract with an annual base salary of $800,000 - $200,000 more than his predecessor, Rodney Erickson, and twice what he was earning in Florida. He also will get a $200,000 signing bonus of sorts, opportunity for $200,000 retention bonuses in subsequent years and a $1 million payment if he stays five years.

Taking the podium to a round of applause, Barron – who has been gone from Penn State since 2006 - called the new job a dream come true. During his time as a Penn State geosciences professor and dean of the college of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Barron said he learned the "push for excellence" and "the power of community" and has carried those traits with him in his eight-year absence.

"In many ways, I never left Penn State. Penn State lives here. Penn State lives here," Barron said, pointing to his head and his heart.

Barron's selection culminates a more than year-long search to find a new leader for the 98,000-student, 24-campus institution, Pennsylvania's flagship university. Trustees in late October were poised to give the job to David R. Smith, president of the State University of New York Upstate Medical University, until allegations surfaced that he received unauthorized payments from outside sources.

Both Barron and Penn State officials declined to pinpoint whether Barron entered the search process before or after the Smith appointment fell through. Barron said only that his interest in the job was "very recent."

Faculty, staff and students said they were excited to see one of their own get the job.

"It's known that he has the established Penn State values," said senior Caitlin Lesko, a nutrition major from Weatherly.

Barron, an avid racquetball player, raised his two children in State College and served on the local school board.

"You can't beat that," said Michael Berube, director of Penn State's institute for arts and humanities.

Berube also likes that Barron is skilled as a fundraiser – he's leading a $1 billion campaign at Florida State – and respected educator.

"He's not a suit. He's a very serious academic," Berube said, noting that faculty are "happy" and "relieved."

Barron was measured with his comments, careful when addressing hot button issues. Penn State is still dealing with the fallout of the child sex abuse scandal involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, now in prison. Some alumni remain angry that the board of trustees agreed to football sanction handed down by the NCAA and fired the late Joe Paterno as head football coach.

Barron, however, was complimentary about where the university stands.

"What I see is an institution that has really taken control of compliance and is no doubt now a model university," he said.

Asked what role Paterno's legacy should have at Penn State, Barron said: "My feeling is the wisest answer is to tell you to give me time, okay? …Whatever we do, we have to make sure we do it with a high sense of dignity and honor."

During the meeting, trustee Lubrano praised Barron, noting in particular his handling of the controversy when Florida State's star quarterback, Jameis Winston, was accused of rape. Barron said at the time he would wait for the legal outcome. Winston was not charged and went on to lead the school to a national championship in January.

"You exhibited great courage and leadership when some in the media and public were quick to condemn," Lubrano said.

Lubrano is among trustees still upset that Penn State agreed to NCAA sanctions, including a $60 million fine and loss of Bowl games and scholarships, before the outcome of criminal cases against Penn State administrators, accused of failing to act on allegations that Sandusky abused young boys on and off campus.

On the Winston case, Barron said: "It's incredibly important that an institution follow due process."

Taking sides, he said, would have been a mistake.

"It's an interesting lesson and one that I won't forget," he said.

There has been some speculation that Barron, at age 62, may not be a long-term president, such as Graham B. Spanier, who was at the helm 16 years before the Sandusky crisis forced him out.

"Ask my wife and she would tell you that I have trouble sitting still," Barron said, dismissing the notion of an early departure.

Barron, a native of Lafayette, Ind., earned a bachelor's degree in geology from Florida State and master's and doctoral degrees in oceanography from the University of Miami.

Under his leadership, Florida State – a sprawling system of 41,500 students - was ranked by U.S. News and World Report in December as the most efficiently operated university in the nation. News of Barron's impending departure in a Tallahassee newspaper interview Saturday shocked Florida State trustees.

Barron said his first priority at Penn State will be to learn about the university as it stands today. He will spend a half day with each dean to hear about his or her triumphs and struggles, he said.

"The way it works well," Barron said, "is when you have a full sense of the strengths of an institution and those weaknesses."

The job is big: He will oversee a 44,000-employee enterprise that has an annual budget of more than $4 billion, but has coped with flat or declining state funding in recent years.

He replaces Erickson, who took over for Spanier in November 2011 when Sandusky was indicted and has made it clear he wanted to leave by June 30 of this year.

"This is an important day in the life of the university," said Michael Paul, director of space systems initiatives at the university's Applied Research Lab. "I'm really glad it's come to a good conclusion."