Klein to stay on as dean of Science and Technology

Michael Klein, the interim dean of the College of Science and Technology, will stay on as the dean of CST.

Klein will become the permanent dean of CST, President Neil Theobald told The Temple News last week, though no official announcement has been made.

“The decision has been made, it’s just paperwork that needs to be filed,” Theobald said.

Klein said he found out on April 19 that he’d soon be taking on the role of dean.

“I am excited and proud that both President Theobald and Provost [Hai-Lung] Dai have the confidence in me to ask me to become the Dean of the College,” Klein said in an email. “I follow in the giant footsteps of Hai-Lung Dai, and his wonderful staff in the Dean’s Office, who transformed CST in so many ways.”

Klein added that he’s aiming to continue what Dai accomplished during his tenure as dean of CST.

“My immediate past focus has been on hiring stellar new faculty and working with Institutional Advancement & Development people to increase the profile of our College. Indeed, we have 8 new recruits, spanning across all department of the College, including a member of the National Academy of Sciences, who will come on board later this year,” he said.

Klein came to Temple from the University of Pennsylvania in 2009 and served as the interim dean of CST since last summer, when  Dai, the college’s former dean, was named interim provost by then-Acting President Richard Englert. Dai dropped his interim title and was formally appointed provost by Theobald in February.

Dai said in an interview with The Temple News after he was named provost in February that the university was not actively searching for a dean for CST because Klein was “doing a fabulous job” as the interim dean.

Though the official announcement hasn’t been made, Klein said details would likely be ironed out after the semester.

“I have not discussed any of the detail,” Klein said. “That’s not so important now because we’ve got to get through the end of semester, we’ve got to get through graduation and then there will be a period where we can calmly sort all that out.”

Sean Carlin can be reached at sean.carlin@temple.edu or on Twitter @SeanCarlin84.