Former University of Maryland Director of Athletics Lew Perkins passed away at the age of 78 on Tuesday as announced by his family. The longtime collegiate administrator served as the Terps AD from 1987-90 and hired Hall of Famer Gary Williams who led Maryland to the 2002 NCAA National Championship.
 
In addition to Maryland, Perkins was the Director of Athletics at Wichita State (1983-87), Connecticut (1990-03), and Kansas (2003-10). His career was highlighted with national titles at Kansas (men's basketball) and Connecticut (4 in women's basketball, men's basketball, and men's soccer). In football, Kansas reached the Orange Bowl in 2008, while at Connecticut he elevated the program to FBS in 2000 and paved the way for Big East membership in 2004.
 
In 2000, he was the inaugural winner of the National Athletic Director of the Year award, while in 2008, he was the only collegiate executive to be named one of the top-35 sports executives in the world by Time Magazine.
 
Perkins was chosen for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Trustees in 2005. He also served on the NCAA championships and competition cabinet and the NCAA bowl certification committee.

Perkins grew up in Massachusetts before joining the Hawkeyes, where he played from 1965-67 under Hall of Fame basketball coach Ralph Miller. He then embarked on a career in administration at the University of South Carolina-Aiken, where he helped the school grow from a junior college to a four-year school as both athletic director and basketball coach.

Perkins returned to USC-Aiken in 2005 to receive an honorary doctorate.

He went on to serve as the associate athletic director at Penn before getting the AD job at Wichita State, which was then serving two years of probation. He made the controversial decision to end the school's football program in a cost-saving move, but Perkins was also praised for the hiring of successful basketball coach Eddie Fogler. 

Perkins left for Maryland in 1987, where the men's basketball program was reeling from the death of star basketball player Len Bias. During his brief stay, Perkins brought in basketball coach Gary Williams, who later led the Terps to a national title.
Perkins spent the next 13 years as the athletic director at Connecticut, where the women's basketball program won four national titles and the men's basketball and soccer programs also claimed championships. He also was instrumental in the development of the Huskies' football program, which joined the Division I level in 2000 and the Big East a year after his departure.

The often-affable Perkins is perhaps known for his time at Kansas, though.

While he was the Jayhawks' athletic director, their long-downtrodden football program won the 2008 Orange Bowl under Mark Mangino and, months later, the men's basketball national title under Bill Self. The schools' athletic budget soared and significant upgrades were made to Memorial Stadium, the Booth Family Hall of Athletics and other facilities on campus.

Portions of this courtesy of the Associated Press