Former Penn State president now working on national security

Former Penn State University President Graham Spanier, who was forced from office in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal, is now working in Washington on a national security project, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

A Penn State spokesperson confirmed that Spanier took on the project during a year-long sabbatical as a tenured professor at the school, the paper reported.

Spanier told the Patriot-News of Harrisburg in an email that he would be “working on a special project for the U.S. government relating [to] national security.” Spanier did not specify whether he was working for the federal government or a contractor and university officials did not confirm his employer.

Penn State's Board of Trustees fired both Spanier and football coach Joe Paterno last year for what they later said was a "failure of leadership" after Sandusky was accused of abusing young boys.