KU News Release

LAWRENCE — Lew Perkins, athletics director at the University of Kansas, will speak Tuesday, April 13, at the Dole Institute of Politics.

Perkins will give a public interview relating to his decades-long career in sports administration. The interview begins at 7:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

He is the third person to speak in the Leadership and Globalization in Sports series, which explores the broader economic, social and political impact of sports throughout the world. Former National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue was the inaugural speaker in November 2008, followed by international mountain guide Robert Link in November 2009.

“Lew Perkins’ record of leadership in collegiate sports is extraordinary,” said Bill Lacy, director of the Dole Institute. “Mr. Perkins is a talented athletics director who understands the importance of sports in the lives of young people and can speak to the broader issues of academics, leadership and globalization in collegiate athletics.”

Perkins has served as director of athletics at KU since June 2003. Since his arrival, the KU athletics program has experienced unprecedented academic achievement, won two consecutive bowl games in football and captured the past seven Big 12 Conference championships in men’s basketball (as well as the NCAA men’s basketball championship in 2008).

In 2008, the public voted Perkins the best sports executive in the world through TIME magazine’s online poll. He was the only college sports administrator on the list of 35 individuals. In 2000, he was awarded the inaugural National Athletic Director of the Year Award.

Before joining KU in 2003, Perkins served as athletics director for the University of Connecticut. Beginning at Connecticut in 1990, Perkins achieved national fame and was instrumental in growth of the university’s athletics program.