SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Starting this summer, the Notre Dame marching band will have a new leader.

The university announced that Paul Popiel was named the new director of bands. He succeeds longtime band leader Ken Dye, who will formally retire at the end of the school year. Popiel previously served as the dean of the School of Music at the University of Kansas. Also on his resume is serving as an assistant director of bands at Indiana University, as well as an associate director of bands at Oklahoma State University.

Popiel is also a Notre Dame alum, having earned his master's degree in trumpet performance there. In a statement, Popiel said the following:

Returning to Notre Dame is a profound homecoming to a place that shaped my vocation and values. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve an institution with such a rich musical and educational tradition, and I look forward to leading a band program whose legacy continues to inspire through artistic excellence, thoughtful engagement with the world and the formation of students as musicians, leaders and servants of the common good.

Popiel formally assumes the role July 1. The Notre Dame marching band is the oldest continuously running collegiate marching band in the country.