PITTSBURG POST-GAZETTE: …During the interview in Old Main on Penn State’s main campus, Mr. Erickson, 65, told the newspaper he intends to step down as president after his employment contract ends in June 2014 and that a national search will then be conducted for a successor…
He said the school’s academic accomplishments must be better showcased but insisted he never intended for that to occur at the expense of the school’s rich football tradition, a position attributed to him that triggered a backlash among Nittany Lion fans.
He said making the public more likely to associate Penn State with teaching and research excellence is difficult when so many people are more interested in reading about the university’s sports. He said Penn State announced a few weeks back that faculty researchers were closing in on a cure for one form of leukemia, but it “received almost no attention beyond the university.”… (more)
