"State College, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- Joe Paterno, whose tenure as the most successful coach in major college football history ended abruptly in November amid allegations that he failed to respond forcefully enough to a sex abuse scandal involving a former assistant, died Sunday, a family spokesman said. He was 85.
The longtime Penn State head coach was diagnosed with what his family had called a treatable form of lung cancer shortly after the university's Board of Trustees voted to fire him.
He had been hospitalized in December after breaking his pelvis in a fall at his home and again in January for what his son called minor complications from his cancer treatments.
"It is with great sadness that we announce that Joe Paterno passed away earlier today," the family statement said. "His loss leaves a void in our lives that will never be filled."
Paterno, who was affectionately known as "JoePa" by generations of his players and football fans alike, was widely admired in football circles for what he called his "Grand Experiment" -- his expectation that big-time college football players could succeed on the field while upholding high academic and moral standards away from the gridiron.
Under his leadership, the Nittany Lions won two national championships, went undefeated five times and finished in the top 25 national rankings 35 times, according to his official Penn State biography.
At the same time, the program never fell under NCAA sanctions for major infractions while producing 13 Academic All-Americans since 2006. In 2009, according to the university, the Nittany Lions posted an 85% graduation rate.
"The acclaim for Joe Paterno has stemmed largely from the contrast between the high academic and moral standards he has tried to exemplify and the shameless conduct that often embarrasses and dishonors the college sport he cherishes," author Michael O'Brien wrote in a 1999 biography of Paterno, "No Ordinary Joe."
Paterno was born in 1926 in Brooklyn to second-generation Italian immigrants, according to O'Brien's book.
He attended Brown University, where he played quarterback and cornerback, according to another Penn State biography.
He coached at Penn State as an assistant from 1950 to 1965 and became head coach in 1966.
Decked out in his soon-to-become trademark thick glasses, white socks and sneakers, Paterno quickly became a memorable fixture on the football field, leading the Nittany Lions to undefeated seasons in 1968, 1969 and again in 1973 and the first national championship of his tenure in 1982."
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