 He became president of U. S. Steel in March 2003, and chairman of the board as of February 2006.Among his current posts Surma is chairman of the International Iron and Steel Institute, vice chairman of the American Iron and Steel Institute and a member of the board of directors of the National Association of Manufacturers.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.