Duke athletic director Tom Butters is resting comfortably at a Baltimore hospital after undergoing emergency quadruple bypass heart surgery Sunday. He is expected to be released by this weekend.
Butters, 59, suffered a heart attack soon after experiencing chest pains while preparing to play a round of golf. He was released Monday from the intensive care unit at Sinai Hospital to the Open Heart Stepdown Unit.
Butters will convalesce at home following his release, Sports Information Director Mike Cragg said, noting that "all signs are pointing in the right direction" for a full recovery.
Word of Butters' heart attack met with surprise and deep concern from those who know him well.
"It was a complete shock," said head football coach Fred Goldsmith. "He's a special person... and a wonderful man to work for. I've just been through thick and thin with him.... He is a great administrator but has also been a good friend and a father figure-very supportive."
Butters will still oversee the department during his recovery period, Cragg said, but Associate Athletic Director Joe Alleva will handle the "day-to-day stuff."
Butters has been the University's athletic director since 1977 and part of the athletics department since 1967. He has served on the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament Selection Committee from 1989-94-the last two years as its chair-the College Football Association's Football Championship Study Committee and the NCAA Division I-A Athletic Directors' Television Committee.
Butters' colleagues hope to see him back at the job soon, but they recognize his recovering health as the foremost priority right now.
"We're looking forward to seeing him back and healthy," Goldsmith said. "He's a strong, strapping guy. He's a youthful 59-I'll say that.... He hits the golf ball a mile."
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