VERMILLION, S.D. -- The University of South Dakota athletic department has announced the hiring of Travis Lee as the director of marketing and promotions and Mark Maturi as the new USD assistant director of development.

"The hiring of Travis and Mark comes at a critical time during our transition to Division I," USD Director of Athletics Joel Nielsen said. "Their background and experience will help us immediately."

Lee is a 1990 graduate of Dakota State University in Madison, S.D., and comes to USD with several years of experience in the sports marketing and management field. He worked with the Sioux Falls Canaries baseball team of the Northern League from 1993-97, including as the team's general manager from 1995-97. Prior to that, he was the Canaries' assistant general manager and director of promotions. He was also a marketing consultant/talk show host at KSFS Sports Radio in Sioux Falls from 1997-98. From 1998-2003, Lee was the marketing/merchandise manager of the Sioux Falls Stampede Hockey Club of the United States Hockey Association. From there, he served as president/general manager for the Central Texas Blackhawks of the NAHL from 2003-04. Recently, he worked as a professional representative for Merck & Company, Inc., from 2004-09.

Lee also has served as an adjunct instructor at Tarleton State University-Central Texas in Killeen, Texas and at the USDSU (University Center) and Southeast Technical Institute in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Lee earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from Dakota State in 1990, and earned a master's degree in business with a minor in mass communications from the University of Nebraska in 1992.

"Travis's background in marketing and promotions, coupled with his extensive sales experience, will provide a much-needed boost for us right now," USD Associate Athletic Director David Herbster said. "He is a South Dakota native who knows the region and the state. We look forward to getting him back home."

Maturi, a 2000 graduate of the University of Wisconsin, brings experience in both fundraising and intercollegiate athletics to the position at USD. He has worked as an associate for GR Seppala & Associates in Wayzata, Minn., since 2007. His duties included leadership of the sports marketing division and also being involved in all aspects of fundraising for non-profits, youth development, the arts and community projects. He also worked for Bolder Options in Minneapolis, Minn. in 2007. Bolder Options is a Minneapolis-based early intervention youth mentoring program.

From 2005-06, Maturi was the Beaver Pride Coordinator for Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minn., where he led the fundraising efforts for the university's athletic program. From 2001-03, he worked in the Red and White Club at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. In 2001, he was an intern for the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics in Cleveland, Ohio.

"Mark brings a unique background of college athletics and fundraising and will be the driving force behind the Howling Pack and achieving our annual funding goals," Herbster said. "He has lived athletics his whole life and seen the inner workings of collegiate athletic departments on a variety of levels and will bring with him a broad-based perspective on fundraising."

Maturi earned a bachelor's degree in history at the University of Wisconsin in 2000.

Lee replaces Amy Hultgren, who resigned last fall to take a job with Greer & Associates in Minneapolis, Minn. Maturi replaces Slade Larscheid, who resigned last fall to take a position with Sports Loop Consulting Inc., in Chicago, Ill.