In the Lions’ Den tells the true story of a scandal at Penn State University that unfairly resulted in the firing of the nation’s most successful and admired collegiate football coach and the respected president of the university. The book chronicles a criminal justice system run amok, political vindictiveness and retribution, moral panic, and the influence of a twisted media narrative. It is, in short, the anatomy of a smear, a memoir told by the university president who lost his job after an outstanding career in higher education. The story, which is so outlandish that it would be impossible to make up, involves villains and heroes, fear and bravery, the rehabilitative value of friends and family, and coping with adversity.

About the Author:

Graham Spanier served as president of The Pennsylvania State University from 1995 to 2011. His prior positions include chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Oregon State University, and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He previously served Penn State from 1973 to 1982 as a member of the faculty and in three administrative positions in the College of Health and Human Development. He currently works as a consultant in national and international security, intelligence and risk management.

A family sociologist, demographer, and marriage and family therapist, he earned his Ph.D. in sociology from Northwestern University, where he was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, and his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Iowa State University. He is the recipient of three honorary doctorates. Spanier is now President Emeritus and University Professor Emeritus. He held academic appointments as professor of human development and family studies, sociology, demography and family and community medicine.

As a “Distinguished Alumnus” of Iowa State University, with three degrees from there, including an honorary doctorate, as well as a former on-air commentator on WOI-TV, Dr. Spanier considers himself to be an “Iowa author.”