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Athletics Director Lew Perkins
Lew Perkins Athletics Director Third Year At Kansas Iowa ‘67
Lew Perkins has served as director of athletics at the University of Kansas since June 2003. He arrived at KU after achieving nationally recognized success as athletics director at the University of Connecticut.
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Kansas Athletics has experienced tremendous growth and success during Perkins’ short tenure. The football team participated in a bowl game (2003) for the first time since 1995; the men’s basketball team reached the Elite Eight of the 2004 NCAA Championships; the women’s soccer team has appeared in two consecutive NCAA tournaments, reaching the Sweet 16 in 2003; the women’s volleyball team reached the second round of the NCAA Championships in 2003 and 2004, and the softball team reached the NCAA tournament in 2005.
The student-athletes in KU's 18-sport program have achieved unprecedented success in the classroom as well, setting records for grade-point averages in each of the last two semesters. Kansas Athletics’ fundraising has reached unprecedented levels; under Perkins, KU’s $27-million athletics budget has grown to nearly $40 million.
At Connecticut (1990-2003), Perkins was instrumental in guiding UCONN athletics to impressive growth - athletically, academically and financially. His leadership influenced six NCAA Division I National Championships. He was rewarded in 2000 as the inaugural winner of the National Athletic Director of the Year Award as selected by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal, in conjunction with the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). He was lauded for bringing UCONN football to the NCAA Division I-A level, and for convincing the state of Connecticut Legislature to fund a $90-million, 40,000-seat stadium for UCONN, which now competes in the Big East Football Conference. He also was responsible for a multi-million dollar contract for the televising of UCONN’s women’s basketball games.
Perkins has served on two prestigious NCAA committees - the Championships & Competition Cabinet and the Bowl Certification Committee. In Spring 2005 he was named to the Board of Directors of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
A native of Chelsea, Mass., Perkins was inducted into his high school Hall of Fame in 1989. A highly recruited basketball player, he played at the University of Iowa (1965-67) for Hall of Fame coach and KU graduate Ralph Miller. Perkins earned his undergraduate degree there in 1967.
Perkins served as director of athletics (1969-80) and head basketball coach (1969- 79) at the University of South Carolina Aiken as that institution grew from a junior college to a four-year institution. He received his master's degree in education (1975) from the University of South Carolina. Perkins delivered the commencement address and received an honorary Doctor of Education degree at USC Aiken in May 2005.
Perkins has also served as athletics director at the University of Maryland and Wichita State University, and associate director of athletics at the University of Pennsylvania. Perkins is married to the former Gwen Flaum. Like Lew, Gwen earned an undergraduate degree from Iowa and a master's degree in education from the University of South Carolina. They have two daughters (Amy, husband Brandon Macneill; Holly, husband Tom Halligan) and two granddaughters (Caroline and Alexandra Macneill).
