State College, Pa. ? Penn State is turning to a member of its board of trustees who played football and wrestled for the school to serve as its acting athletic director in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal.

Dr. David M. Joyner, a business consultant and an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine, will take over the job performed until last week by Tim Curley.

Curley is on leave as he defends himself against criminal charges that he failed to properly alert authorities when told Sandusky allegedly sodomized a young boy in the Penn State football showers in 2002, and that he lied to a grand jury.

Sandusky was charged Nov. 5 with sexually abusing eight boys over a 15-year span starting in 1994.

Joyner’s position on the board, where he has been a trustee since 2000, is being suspended as he takes on the new duties.

Among his likely tasks will be finding a replacement for Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno, who was fired last week by trustees amid mounting criticism that he and other school leaders should have done more to stop the alleged attacks.

Longtime school president Graham Spanier also was fired, replaced by Rod Erickson, previously the school’s chief academic officer since 1999.

University vice president Bill Mahon said on Tuesday that Erickson wants to make sure the school is “better aligned,” and that there are no opportunities for miscommunication between athletics and the rest of the school, or a lack or hesitancy to communicate.