Tim Dwyer contributed to this story.

Lew Perkins was going to conclude his tenure as Kansas athletics director on an early September afternoon. That much went according to plan. That he hit the mark a year early caught some by surprise.

On Tuesday Perkins and Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little announced his retirement effective immediately. Sean Lester, formerly senior associate athletics director, was named interim athletics director while the University searches for Perkins’ successor.

“I was shocked,” Lester said about being asked by Gray-Little to carry out Perkins’ duties. Lester joined Athletics in September 2003, shortly after Perkins became athletics director. He previously spent eight years as a senior administrator at the University of Connecticut, where Perkins was athletics director before coming to Kansas.

Perkins announced in June his intentions to retire, but said he would remain as athletics director through Sept. 4, 2011. That announcement came a day after the University cleared Perkins of ethics violations when an internal investigation found that he did not exchange preferential seating for exercise equipment.

Perkins’ attorney, Stephen McAllister, then sent the evidence to the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission. The commission investigates state employee conflicts of interest. While the commission cannot comment on ongoing investigations, McAllister said no decision had been made.

Last month, Gray-Little informed the Kansas Board of Regents that she had removed Perkins as chair of Athletics’ advisory committee. Perkins was to remain as a member on the committee.

The terms of Perkins’ retirement agreement are being finalized. Perkins will receive a retention payment from Athletics of $2 million before taxes.

In an Aug. 28 interview with The Kansan, Gray-Little said her goal is to identify Perkins’ successor in mid to late spring.

“In an informal way the process has already begun,” Gray-Little said. “People have already started identifying themselves or having recommendations.”

The University released a second statement from Gray-Little following Tuesday’s press conference that outlined the search process. She said she expected to name a committee of five to six members by the end of next week. Gray-Little identified the middle or latter part of the spring semester as her goal for naming the school’s new athletics director.

While Lester said he would like to be a full-time athletics director at some point, he only intends to do so at Kansas in an interim role.

“While I am confident in Sean Lester’s ability to lead Kansas Athletics as interim athletics director, he has expressed to me that he is not a candidate to be our next athletics director,” Gray-Little said in a statement.

Perkins previously said he planned to remain in Lawrence after his retirement. He reiterated those plans in Tuesday’s announcement.

“This decision will give us a chance to stay involved in the community in different ways,” Perkins said in the release. “It will also allow me to explore other professional opportunities.”

Perkins was not present at Tuesday’s press conference. Lester and men’s basketball coach Bill Self could not answer questions about Perkins’ future plans.

Self called the day bittersweet and, when asked about the retiring athletics director’s legacy, said Perkins’ concern for student athletes and their welfare surpassed that of anyone he had encountered.

“I’m not really excited about the timing, but I am excited about the direction,” Self said.

— Edited by Joel Petterson