Arkansas Business

Arkansas State announced that Athletic Director Dean Lee has been reassigned to another position at the university.

Senior associate AD Doug Abel, as first reported by ArkansasSports360.com, will serve as interm athletic director.

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Arkansas State University is expected to announce that Athletic Director Dean Lee has been re-assigned to another position at the university, ArkansasSports360.com has learned.

Sources close to the situation say Lee, who is in his 10th year at Arkansas State, will remain employed by the university in the advancement office. A search for his replacement as athletic director will begin immediately.

"We expect to move quickly to hire a new AD," Arkansas State system president Dr. Chuck Welch said in a release. "We will be looking for an individual who understands the business of athletics and is poised to further the momentum ASU is currently experiencing. We expect to attract high-caliber candidates who bring with them the leadership expertise to take ASU’s athletic programs to the next level. ”

Lee, who signed a three-year extension at Arkansas State in June, is under contract with Arkansas State through June 30, 2015. He came to ASU in 2002, succeeding Paul Griffin, who resigned earlier that year after less than a year in the position.

Lee came to ASU from Oklahoma State University, where he was executive director of the OSU Athletic Associates and assistant vice president of the OSU Foundation. He joined the OSU staff as associate director of athletics for the Big 12 Conference school in 1997.

Before that, he spent two years as athletic director at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville. While at Tech, he directed the school’s move from the NAIA to the NCAA Division II level.

Lee also worked as vice president of the Razorback Foundation at the University of Arkansas from 1988 until he left for Tech in 1995. While at Fayetteville, he also served on the faculty as an instructor.

The move comes as ASU prepares for its first football season under new head coach Gus Malzhan, a former offensive coordinator for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks and Auburn University, where in 2010 he helped coach the team to a national championship. 

The hiring of Malzahn, which followed a 10-victory season under former head coach Hugh Freeze, has prompted university officials to set their sights on raising the profile of the ASU football program.

"That's an administration issue. I'm not totally on top of everything," Malzahn said when asked about the move on Sport Talk With Bo Mattingly. "I'm a football coach. That's an administration issue, I believe."

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ArkansasSports360.com will update this story.