INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Chancellor and IU Executive Vice President Charles R. Bantz have announced the appointment of Andrew R. Klein as the dean of the IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law.
Klein will begin his new position July 1, pending approval of the IU Board of Trustees. Klein, 50, has served in the Chancellor’s Cabinet as chief of staff since 2010 and took on additional responsibilities as associate vice chancellor for academic affairs in 2012. As chief of staff, Klein handles a range of campus-related responsibilities, including oversight of the IUPUI intercollegiate athletics program.
Klein, who will be the 12th dean of the McKinney School since it became part of IU in 1944, has been a member of the school’s faculty since 2000 and will be responsible for providing its overall strategic vision and leadership. Additionally, he will work to advance research, education and civic engagement.
“Andy has made exceptional contributions to both the McKinney School of Law and the development of the IUPUI campus during his tenure, and his expertise, leadership and experience make him an outstanding choice as the next dean,” McRobbie said. “The McKinney School has educated many of the state’s political and professional leaders, and I am confident that the school will continue to play a critical role in legal education in Indiana under Andy’s guidance.”
The McKinney School of Law is one of two law schools within the IU system. Located in downtown Indianapolis, IU McKinney School of Law has prepared students for legal careers for more than 100 years, as evidenced by the presence of alumni in the judiciary and other branches of government, business, civic leadership and law practice. The school’s 11,000 graduates reside in every state in the nation and several foreign countries and constitute half of the practicing lawyers in Indiana.
“By conducting a national search with excellent candidates, it became crystal clear that Andy Klein has everything a law dean needs,” Bantz said. “He is a recognized scholar, a devoted teacher, an experienced law school administrator and a member of national professional organizations, and he has tremendous educational experience.
“Not only has he been a day-to-day supervisor of intercollegiate athletics and my ‘go-to’ for tough issues, he has served more than four years on the Carmel-Clay School Board. His intelligence, experience, maturity and strength of character make him the right person to be Dean of the McKinney School.”
Klein is the Paul E. Beam Professor of Law and served as associate dean for academic affairs from 2004 to 2007. He has received numerous awards during his tenure, including five teaching awards, three faculty leadership awards, two outstanding administrator awards and the IU Trustees Teaching Award. His teaching and research focus on tort and environmental law.
In 2007, Klein was a Visiting Fellow at Clare Hall and a Visiting Scholar on the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge. Before his affiliation with IU, Klein was on the faculty of Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Ala., from 1992 to 2000. He was an associate at Sidley & Austin in Chicago from 1989 to 1992 and clerked for Judge Joseph W. Hatchett, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, from 1988 to 1989.
“I am honored for this this opportunity,” Klein said. “The McKinney School of Law is one of Indiana’s most important assets — a training ground for so many of our state’s leaders, and for outstanding lawyers around the world. I plan to do everything in my power to earn the trust that Indiana University has placed in me. And I am excited about working hand in hand with a tremendous faculty, excellent students and many loyal alumni who share my enthusiasm for our school.”
Klein is a member of the American Law Institute, a Distinguished Fellow of the Indianapolis Bar Foundation and a member of the Illinois Bar. Additionally, he serves as reporter for the Civil Jury Instructions Committee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit and is on the executive committee of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Torts and Compensation Systems.
Locally, Klein is a board member of the Madame Walker Theatre, the National Art Museum of Sport and Play Ball Indiana. He served on the Carmel Clay School Board of Education from 2008 to 2013, holding the office of president from 2009 to 2010.
Klein received his Juris Doctor with Distinction from Emory University School of Law in 1988, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and served as editor-in-chief of the Emory Law Journal. He received his Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in journalism and economics from the University of Wisconsin, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.