Chancellor Randy Woodson announced today that Director of Athletics Lee Fowler will step down effective June 30. Woodson said he will name an interim director before Fowler’s departure, which will be followed by a national search for his replacement.

“Lee Fowler and I talked on Monday, and we agreed that now is the appropriate time to make a change,” Woodson said in a statement issued May 4. 

The University will honor Fowler’s employment contract, which expires Sept. 30, 2013. Until then, he will receive his annual salary of $280,000. In an N.C. State News Services press release, Fowler reflected on his tenure as director of athletics.

“I am honored to have served this University for 10 years,” Fowler said, “but this is the right time for me and my family to seek other opportunities.”

Then Chancellor Marye Anne Fox hired Fowler in September 2000, when the football team began a four-season winning streak under coach Chuck Amato. The men’s basketball team was in its fifth season under coach Herb Sendek, who led the Wolfpack to the NCAA tournament five out of six years. According to a May 4 article by J.P. Giglio and Ken Tysiac in The News and Observer, confidence in Fowler began to fail when he hired Sidney Lowe, a former Wolfpack point guard and an inexperienced coach, as Sendek’s replacement in April 2006.

“Naturally I am disappointed that I will not see firsthand the fruits of 10 year’s work, but I have the greatest confidence that with the caliber of facilities and coaches we now have, along with a talented and dedicated administrative staff, the athletics program is poised for great success going forward,” Fowler said in a statement.