PHILADELPHIA — The new chair of Pennsylvania State University’s board of trustees said Friday the time had not come to honor Joe Paterno, who died of cancer nearly a year ago after being forced from his job as football coach in the child-sex abuse scandal involving one of his former assistants.

“There will be a time and a place to do that, and I don’t think that’s right now yet,” said Keith Masser, a Schuylkill County potato farmer, who was voted in as chair at Friday’s board meeting.

“I don’t have a timeline,” he added. “I just don’t think it’s right now.”

Masser’s comments came at a news conference following the board meeting during which two of the 32 members made impassioned speeches in support of Paterno and called on the board to find a way to honor his legacy.

“Joe Paterno’s contributions to this university can never be erased, and he will never be forgotten,” said Anthony P. Lubrano, a longtime Paterno supporter, university donor, and businessman from Chester County. “You cannot cover up 61 years of success with honor.”

Many of those in the packed trustees room stood and applauded. Board member Alvin H. Clemens, a senior partner at Agility Partners LLC, a business technology company, also praised Paterno for his emphasis on academic and athletic excellence.

None of the other board members responded. They moved on to other items on the agenda.

The majority of the board has been reluctant to deal with calls from some alumni who continue to champion Paterno. An investigative report commissioned by the board found fault with Paterno for failing to do enough to stop Jerry Sandusky’s abuse after a graduate assistant reported seeing the former assistant coach assaulting a young boy in a campus shower in 2001.

The university subsequently removed a 900-pound statue of Paterno from outside Beaver Stadium. University President Rodney Erickson called the statue “an obstacle to healing our university and beyond.”

Trustee Stephanie Nolan Deviney, an Exton lawyer who was elected vice chair, agreed with Masser that it was not time to honor Paterno.

She pointed out that the university remains in negotiations with victims of Sandusky, who was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison for abusing boys on and off campus.

“That would be a big reason,” she said.