Naming Ceremony Honors Fred and Gené Klein’s transformational $10 Million gift

On September 24, UNC Charlotte recognized a transformational $10 million gift from Gené and Fred Klein by naming the Klein College of Science and dedicating the Science Building as Klein Hall. The event was held under a large tent in front on the building’s front lawn to a crowd of University and community leaders, students, faculty, and supporters of the Kleins.

In her remarks, Chancellor Sharon L. Gaber connected the Klein’s support to the success of the University. “Fred and Gené understand how UNC Charlotte’s success and our region’s success go hand in hand,” said Gaber. “The generosity of the Klein family allows us to further amplify the innovations and discoveries at Charlotte as we set our course to become a preeminent public research university.”

“This investment from Fred and Gené Klein we celebrate today will help provide the resources we need to continue our momentum as this region’s great public research university,” said Gaber.

Jennifer Troyer, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, outlined the formation of the College of Science last year, when two new colleges were formed from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences to create focused pathways for student and research success. “The College of Science is fundamental to high-impact research,” said Troyer. “A world-class College of Science will help us attract top-tier faculty, secure grants, train future scientists and elevate student learning at all levels.”

Klein College of Science Founding Dean Bernadette Donovan-Merkert discussed how UNC Charlotte is the ideal environment to bring vision to fruition. “The Klein College of Science is a collaborative community dedicated to supporting success for all students in their exploration of science and mathematics–even if it’s not their major– to create an inquisitive, scientifically literate society,” said Donovan-Merkert. 

To illustrate that, Donovan-Merkert highlighted two successful students in the audience: Dhairya Desai, a double major in biology and chemistry, Levine Scholar and winner of the Newman Civic Fellowship; and Kaitlin Klotz, a biology Ph.D. student who was the winner of the best poster on Infectious Disease at the Biomedical Sciences symposium this month and is an active campus leader as the president of the Graduate and Professional Student Association.

Donovan-Merkert said the College will use the investment from the Klein’s to be a nest egg to launch the college, supporting merit scholarships, two new endowed professorships and the research needs of faculty. The endowed professorships will be created for the departments of Mathematics and Statistics and Physics and Optical Science. The gift will “elevate our ongoing work, lead future campus research, and expand community collaborations, such as our K-12 initiative to help train science and math teachers in experiential workshops for lessons they can take back to their own classrooms,” said Donovan-Merkert.

“In addition to our three existing research centers, we are also moving the Center for Biomedical Engineering and Science, which was established nearly 20 years ago, into our college,” said Donovan-Merkert. “This center will be a hub for innovation in the life sciences on our campus, and it will expand our partnership ability with companies and initiatives in the Charlotte region and beyond.”

Fred Klein spoke to the audience about how he and Gené are passionate about math and the sciences as their first interests, and were compelled to support the establishment of a brand new college. “We saw this as an opportunity to really jump start the program here with significant funding,” said Fred Klein. 

Klein also thanked the faculty in the audience. “I hope you know how important your efforts are to the success of the school and how much it’s appreciated by the business community– what you do and what you’ve done– to make the school what it is today,” said Klein. He then challenged the Klein College to produce a Nobel Prize winner in the next 20 years and he joked that he would return to campus in a vehicle developed through technology from the College in a body that hadn’t aged due to discoveries in the College.

Dennis Bunker, chair of the UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees, thanked Gené and Fred Klein for their visionary leadership and longstanding commitment to the University, and presented them with a replica of a portion of the artwork featured in the Science building, which was designed by students and faculty.

Chancellor Gaber and Fred Klein unveiled the plaque that will hang in the lobby of Klein Hall to recognize the Klein family’s generosity. Chancellor Gaber closed the program by thanking the Kleins and said she took note of the challenge he issued for Charlotte to continue to rise through the national rankings in the next 15 years.

A reception was held in Klein Hall after the program and tours were given of the building and the McMillan Greenhouses, which are also part of the Klein College.