HARRISBURG, Pa. – Penn State said Wednesday its former president had total taxable income of $3.3 million last year, including $2.5 million in severance because he was forced out of the job after Jerry Sandusky's arrest on child molestation charges.
The university said that Graham Spanier's salary in 2011 was $700,000, plus $83,000 in taxable benefits. The severance total will be paid by 2017.
Spanier said he was not aware the school had made his earnings public, and declined to comment. He remains a tenured faculty member but is on leave.
He was charged four weeks ago with engaging in an alleged cover-up of abuse committed by Sandusky, a retired assistant football coach. Spanier and co-defendants Gary Schultz and Tim Curly are asking to postpone their Dec. 13 preliminary hearing.
Their recent court filings have focused on the role played by former university chief counsel Cynthia Baldwin, and all three defendants have argued their charges should be thrown out.
Sandusky, a former assistant football coach at Penn State, is serving a 30- to 60-year sentence for abusing 10 boys. He maintains he is innocent and is pursuing appeals.
Spanier, Curley and Schultz are accused of endangering the welfare of children, obstruction, conspiracy, failure to report suspected child abuse and perjury.
Curley is on leave to serve out the final year of his contract as athletic director, and Schultz, is retired as vice president for business and finance.
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