20 July 2023
LAWRENCE (KSNT) – Former University of Kansas Director of Athletics Lew Perkins died Tuesday, July 18 at 78-years-old.
The family of Perkins confirmed he died in Lawrence. His career in college athletics was more than 40 years. Perkins served as the KU Director of Athletics from June 2003 until September 2011, according to a KU press release.
“Lew made an indelible impact on Kansas Athletics and served his role at KU with passion and vigor on a daily basis,” Travis Goff said, the current director of athletics. “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.”
A list of Kansas athletics successes while Perkins was AD is listed below:
The KU football team won consecutive bowl games — the 2008 Orange Bowl, which capped a school-record 12-win season, and the 2008 Insight Bowl — marking the first time in school history that KU has played in bowl games in back-to-back seasons. KU football was bowl-eligible in five of the last seven seasons in Perkins’ tenure.
The Kansas men’s basketball team won the 2008 NCAA National Championship, reached the Elite Eight of the 2004 and 2007 NCAA Championships and the Sweet 16 in 2009. KU men’s hoops won the seven-straight Big 12 Conference regular-season championships, as well as four Big 12 Tournament titles.
The Kansas women’s volleyball team appeared in three NCAA tournaments, reaching the second round in 2003 and 2004.
The KU women’s soccer team participated in three NCAA tournaments, reaching the Sweet 16 in 2003.
KU softball won the Big 12 Championship in 2006 and reached the NCAA tournament in 2005 and 2006.
Kansas baseball won the Big 12 Championship in 2006 and reached the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1994. Baseball also earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2009.
The women’s basketball team reached the championship game of the 2009 Women’s National Invitation Tournament, drawing a then-Big 12 record crowd of 16,113 for the game. The team also competed in the 2006, 2008 and 2010 WNITs.
Several KU track-and-field student-athletes won NCAA titles, and many won Big 12 titles and received All-America honors.
–KU Athletics press release statement excerpt
In 2008, TIME Magazine’s online poll places Perkins at the top in the public voting of the best sports executives in the world.