Kansas University Athletic Director Lew Perkins participates in a public interview regarding his career in sports administration in 2010 at the Dole Institute.

Lew Perkins, a longtime basketball coach and athletics administrator who served as the University of Kansas’ athletic director from 2003 to 2010, died Tuesday of side effects related to Parkinson’s disease, his daughter Holly confirmed to the Journal-World Wednesday night. He was 78.

Perkins’ tenure at KU included a 2008 peak for two of the school’s most prominent athletic programs, as the football team won back-to-back bowl games and the men’s basketball team took home its first national title under Bill Self. That year’s success earned Perkins a nod as one of the best sports executives in the world as determined by Time magazine.

During his tenure, he helped Kansas Athletics double its operating budget and oversaw major renovations to its most prominent athletic facilities.

“Lew made an indelible impact on Kansas Athletics and served his role at KU with passion and vigor on a daily basis,” said current KU AD Travis Goff in a press 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.”

KU was Perkins’ final destination as an athletic director following stints at Wichita State, Maryland and Connecticut. While at UConn, he helped the women’s basketball program grow into a perennial championship contender under Geno Auriemma. He had gotten his start at the University of South Carolina Aiken, helping the school transition from a two-year to a four-year college while also serving as its men’s basketball coach. From there, he departed to spend three years as associate AD at Penn before moving to Wichita State.

“I am very proud of the academic and athletic success of our student-athletes during my time at KU, and I will forever treasure the friendships and experiences being a Jayhawk has brought,” he said upon first announcing his retirement in June 2010. “Our supporters are among the best across the nation, and I could not be more pleased with how much we have accomplished together.”

When Perkins did retire from KU in September 2010, a year earlier than he was originally expected to, it was after presiding over a tumultuous final chapter that included an investigation into the conduct of football coach Mark Mangino, a ticketing scandal involving members of the Kansas athletics department, alleged blackmail by a former employee and an internal review regarding Perkins’ own acquisition of exercise equipment.

Despite the turmoil, his successes still remained fresh in the minds of many KU coaches at the time. The head baseball coach from 2003 to 2022, Ritch Price, said following Perkins’ departure in 2010, “He’s left an incredible legacy. You look at his 42 years in this business … I don’t know if there’s an athletic director in America who has had a more successful career.”

“He was a big contributor in us changing the mindset of the athletic department and also competing for championships on a more consistent level,” Self said in the news release Wednesday. “Our hearts go out to (his wife) 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.”

Remaining in Lawrence in later years, the native of Chelsea, Massachusetts, ran his own consulting business and served on the boards of USA Boxing, the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence and Lawrence Country Club, according to the Journal-World’s previous reporting.