 As the vice chairman of the Board of Trustees of Pennsylvania State University, Surma informed longtime Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, by phone, that he had been terminated amid the media firestorm in the wake of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal.Surma became chairman of the Penn State Board of Trustees three days later when Chairman Steve Garban resigned his position.In January 2012 he relinquished the position to The Bank of New York Mellon executive Karen Peetz, but he has continued to serve on the board.