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The Triad’s top law school has appointed a new leader.
Wake Forest University School of Law has appointed Andrew Klein as its next dean, effective July 1. He takes over for Nell Jessup Newton, who had been serving as the Winston-Salem law school’s interim dean since Jane Aiken stepped down last summer.
Klein currently serves as the interim chancellor of Indianan University-Purdue University Indianapolis and the executive vice president of Indiana University. Between 2013 and 2020, he also served as the dean of Indiana’s McKinney School of Law.
Earlier this month, Wake Forest’s law school made a significant jump in the U.S. News & World Report’s new law school rankings, moving from 37th to 22nd.
“Wake Forest is an extraordinary institution. I could not be more excited about becoming part of a place with such a long and distinguished record of training excellence lawyers and outstanding leaders,” Klein said. “I look forward to honoring the school’s best traditions, building on its successes and ensuring a future as bright as its past.”
While leading the McKinney School of Law, Klein helped establish 43 new student scholarships, fellowships and awards as well as create new student externships to expand experiential learning. Applications increased by nearly a third during Klein’s tenure.
Klein has been a teacher of tort and environmental law, winning numerous awards. He has been honored with 10 teaching awards from students, three faculty leadership awards, two outstanding administrator awards, in addition to the Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award. Klein was also honored by Indiana University with an IU Bicentennial Medal in 2019 and a Chancellor’s Medallion in 2021.
“Professor Klein’s exemplary legal and administrative career, along with his demonstrated commitment to service and teaching, have prepared him well to lead Wake Forest law at this important time,” said Susan Wente, president of Wake Forest University. “He will bring the vision and experience necessary to keep the law school at the forefront of legal education.”
With a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, Klein and his colleagues partnered with the American Bar Association to launch the Pathway to Law, an online program designed to expose college students from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds to legal education. Klein also secured a $4 million gift for the McKinney School of Law in support of LGBTQ rights and diversity.
An active scholar, Klein has published articles in leading law journals and co-authored two casebooks and a student-oriented textbook. He is a member of the American Law Institute and served as a reporter for the Seventh Circuit United States Court of Appeals Civil Jury Instructions Committee.
Klein began his teaching career at Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law after working as an associate for Sidley & Austin in Chicago and clerking for Judge Joseph Hatchett of the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
Klein holds a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Wisconsin and earned his juris doctor from Emory University School of Law, where he was the editor-in-chief of the Emory Law Journal.