Kansas Athletics announced this week that Lew Perkins has died. He served as the university’s athletic director from June 2003 to Sept. 2011.
LAWRENCE — Lew Perkins, a former athletic director at the University of Kansas, died Tuesday in Lawrence at 78 years old.
Kansas Athletics announced the news Wednesday, citing family confirmation. Perkins served as KU’s athletic director from 2003 to 2010 during a career in college athletics that lasted more than 40 years.
“Lew did a lot of good things in his time here at KU,” Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self said in the release. “He was a big contributor in us changing the mindset of the athletic department and also competing for championships on a more consistent level. Our hearts go out to Gwen and the family. The one thing I will remember most about Lew was he always put the student-athletes first, and the student-athletes that got to know him well, all loved him.”
Perkins was a Chelsea, Massachusetts native who would go on to play college basketball at Iowa. His career working in college athletics also saw him serve as the athletic director at South Carolina-Aiken, Maryland, Wichita State and Connecticut. It was from Connecticut, where he received the National Athletic Director of the Year Award in 2000 from Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, that he made the move to Kansas.
During Perkins’ time with the Jayhawks, the department enjoyed a lot of success. There was the national championship Self and the men’s basketball team won in 2008 and back-to-back bowl wins for the football program — including an Orange Bowl victory. Elsewhere there were more Big 12 Conference and NCAA accomplishments to celebrate, including multiple NCAA tournament appearances in sports such as women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and baseball.
“Lew made an indelible impact on Kansas Athletics and served his role at KU with passion and vigor on a daily basis,” Travis Goff, Kansas’ current athletic director, said in the release. “We will forever be grateful for his dedication to this university and athletic department. We are thinking of Lew’s amazing family during this time and sending our deepest thoughts and sympathies.”
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Former KU athletic director Lew Perkins dies at 78 years old
