After nearly four years as Towson University's athletic director, Mike Hermann resigned from his position this week.

Hermann, whose resignation was made official Tuesday and was first reported in the Towerlight newspaper Thursday, said that although the resignation was not planned, "it was in the best interest of the program, given the overall situation at hand."

He said he is proud of the progress made in Towson athletics during his tenure.

"I feel great about the things that have happened in the last four years," Hermann said. "We're starting to see some signs of that success over the past four months."

The men's and women's lacrosse teams were ranked in the top 20 at times this spring, and the men's golf team captured a conference championship.

"His resignation presents him with the opportunity to move forward with his career goals," assistant to the president for external relations and communications Marina Cooper said. "It also presents our athletics department with a chance to move forward."

Cooper added that the university will name an interim athletic director next week. There will be an announcement of a search committee to find a permanent replacement.

Also included in the search process will be a "blue ribbon task force," which will provide analysis of the best possible candidates to be interviewed.

"We would hope to have someone hired by the end of the summer," Cooper said. "We start classes at the end of August, so that gives us a couple months." Hermann was named the seventh athletic director at Towson on July 1, 2006.

During his tenure, the Towson women's lacrosse, men's lacrosse, men's golf and men's soccer teams have garnered NCAA berths.

Graduation rates for Tiger athletes have remained more than 10 percent higher than the student body under Hermann's leadership.

All 20 of the university's teams have met the NCAA Academic Progress Rate standard during Hermann's tenure.

Earlier this week, Hermann announced that men's lacrosse coach Tony Seaman's contract had been extended through the 2013 season.

In 12 seasons at the helm, Seaman has compiled a 96-83 record with four conference championships. He was named the coach of the year in the Colonial Athletic Association this past season.

Attendance records have been set in both football and men's basketball during Hermann's time at Towson.

Hermann said he does not know where he'll go in the future, but added that he will explore all possibilities with his family in mind.