Robert M. Klein, Ph.D.

Associate Dean for Professional Development and Faculty Affairs
Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology

rklein@kumc.edu

Robert M. Klein received his B.A. degree Cum Laude with Honors in Biology from Queens College of the City University of New York and his Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Biomedical Sciences from New York University, School of Medicine, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. He received New York State Regents Scholarships for both his undergraduate and graduate studies. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Medical College of Wisconsin/Marquette University.

Professor Klein has been a faculty member in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Kansas, School of Medicine (KUSOM) for thirty-two years and has risen through the ranks from assistant professor, being promoted to the rank of professor on July 1, 1987. He has taught microscopic anatomy, cell biology, developmental biology and embryology to medical students during his tenure in the School of Medicine. He has been the course director of two major courses in the medical curriculum and developed and directed a graduate course in Developmental Biology. He was course Director of the Cell and Tissue Biology course for first year medical students and Director of Medical Education in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology for many years, overseeing all of the Anatomy courses in the first year undergraduate medical curriculum. He is now Director of the Gastrointestinal/Nutrition Module and has been instrumental in developing the virtual microscopy initiative at KUMC.

Over the past decade, Dr. Klein has been active in curriculum development for the undergraduate medical program. He has been a participant and leader in curricular design and reform as a member of the Education Council, the Year 1-2, Year 3-4, Phase I, Phase II, and Curriculum Oversight Committees. Dr. Klein has earned most of the major teaching honors awarded to faculty in the School of Medicine, including the Bohan, Chancellor’s and sixteen Student Voice awards presented by the first year medical class for outstanding instruction. He also was a charter recipient of a Kemper Fellowship for excellence in teaching and mentoring at the University of Kansas and followed that by becoming the only faculty member to receive two Kemper Fellowships.

Dr. Klein has maintained an externally funded grant program throughout his career at KUMC with grants from the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, and several foundations. His work has focused on development, injury, and repair in several organ systems. His current interests include animal models of menstrual migraine and temporomandibular dysfunction and its complications. His work focuses on phenotypic gene changes in the trigeminal ganglion during the normal estrous cycle and after inflammatory and hormonal perturbations.

Professor Klein is the author of over eighty manuscripts and book chapters and three books. His PreTest book is in its 3rd edition and has sold over 8,000 copies. He has been a member of most of the major faculty governance committees at the medical center and in the School of Medicine, chairing most of them. He has been a member of faculty, chair, and dean search committees and has chaired committees to review department chairs, departments, and programs. He served two terms as Chair of Faculty Council in the School of Medicine and Vice Chair of the Executive Committee.

Dr. Klein was Interim Chair of the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology for over two years, from 1987-1989. He was selected to receive an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellowship during 1998-1999. The ACE Fellows Program is the premier higher education leadership development program in the country. It identifies and prepares senior faculty and administrators to become skilled in the leadership of change. Dr. Klein spent that sabbatical year working in the Chancellor’s Office at the University of Kansas with Chancellor Robert E. Hemenway as his mentor.

Professor Klein was appointed as Associate Dean for Professional Development and Faculty Affairs (PDFA) in the School of Medicine, July 1, 2002. He has assembled an outstanding team with Ms. Jo Halverson as Director of PDFA. PDFA has the major responsibility of oversight of the Promotion and Tenure process at KUSOM. The PDFA office organizes and runs major programs and activities including an array of professional development workshops to facilitate the research, teaching, and clinical activities of the KUSOM faculty.

The Campus Wide Leadership Series, organized by PDFA, served over 800 participants in the spring of 2007, with an average audience range of 155 to 160. The leadership series has been a consistently well attended program that brings together leaders from all over the medical center who share their wisdom and common issues. The series is co-sponsored by KU Physicians, Inc., KU Hospital, KU Medical Center Human Resources, and the KU Schools of Nursing, Allied Health, Medicine and Graduate Studies.

PDFA has initiated a pilot mentoring program in the School of Medicine. The program is a result of the need to improve hiring and retention of the best faculty at the KU School of Medicine. Basic scientists are hard hit by the increasing difficulty to obtain extramural research support and clinical faculty are severely affected by rapid changes in the health care system which leave little time for the academic side of their careers. In an attempt to deal with these problems, a pilot faculty mentoring program began this year with Senior Coordinator, Marty Gunion and Professor Klein leading the effort.

Dr. Klein continues to play an active role in teaching and research in addition to his administrative responsibilities in the Dean’s Office. He is committed to provide a positive impact on students and faculty in the School of Medicine.