David M. Joyner

David M. Joyner
Current position
Title	Athletic Director
Team	Penn State

David M. Joyner is an orthopedic physician, a former member of the Penn State University Board of Trustees, and the current Athletic Director for Penn State.

Biography

Joyner played football for Penn State in the 1970s. He wrestled for Penn State as well, finishing second in the 1971 NCAA Championships at heavyweight. He graduated from Penn State in 1972 with a degree in science, and received his medical doctorate from Penn State in 1976. He worked as an orthopedic surgeon, and later worked with the World Football League. He focused his career on sports medicine, eventually serving as chair of the United States Olympic Sports Medicine Committee.

Joyner founded Mushin Inc., which operated a chain of fitness centers under the C-5 Fitness brand, in April 2002 and the company filed for bankruptcy in November 2006.

Joyner was elected by Penn State alumni to the Penn State Board of Trustees in July 2000 to a three-year term, and was re-elected in 2003, 2006, and 2009.

Joyner was a member of the Penn State Board of Trustees that dismissed Joe Paterno in November 2011 amid the media firestorm surrounding the announcement of charges against Jerry Sandusky, although Paterno had not been charged with any crime and had been named as a cooperating witness for the prosecution.

Athletic Director

Joyner, who was at the time a university trustee, was named Penn State's acting Athletic Director in November 2011 after Athletic Director Timothy Curley was placed on administrative leave following his indictment for perjury and failing to report possible child abuse in connection with the Penn State sex abuse scandal. Joyner had no prior experience as an athletic director and some observers have questioned the propriety of the Board of Trustees moving one of their own members into a position that reportedly pays an annual salary of $396,000. In a report released in November 2012 the Pennsylvania Auditor General recommended that Penn State should avoid such transfers, stating, "this movement gives rise to reasonable public perceptions of insider influence and conflicting interests, particularly when the movement involves persons at executive levels." Nothwitstanding this recommendation, in January 2013 Penn State announced that Joyner had been named permanent AD.

Joyner pledged to rehabilitate the athletic department and return to core values as an academic unit, saying, "Now if we've lost some of that luster because of things that have happened, I can tell you that I've never lost that core value, and this athletic department will reflect that core value." However, in 2011, coach Joe Paterno's final season, Penn State boasted four Academic All-American football players and a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 88 percent compared to an 80 percent average for all Division I institutions, causing some observers to wonder why Joyner would suggest that the Penn State athletic department had lost its focus on academics.

In October 2012 Joyner and Penn State President Rodney Erickson were booed by fans attending a Penn State football game.