Michael W. Klein, J.D., Ph.D.

Michael W. Klein is the director of government relations for the Pinelands Preservation Alliance. He is also an instructor in the Student Affairs in Higher Education Program at Colorado State University and a lecturer in the PhD in Higher Education Program at Rutgers.

Michael started his career in state government as an aide to New Jersey Governor Tom Kean. After earning a law degree and joining the law firm Pitney Hardin Kipp & Szuch, Michael became legislative director to Assemblyman Leonard Lance. Michael was then appointed as an assistant counsel for Governor Christine Todd Whitman and later served as deputy director of legislative affairs for the Department of the Treasury and special assistant to the Commissioner of Community Affairs.

Upon leaving state service, Michael advocated for public higher education through the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities, first as the director of government and legal affairs and then as executive director. Michael went on to serve as the interim executive director of the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University and was then selected as an inaugural Richard P. Nathan Public Policy Fellow at the Rockefeller Institute of Government at the State University of New York.

Michael is a trustee of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities and Fielding Graduate University. He was a member of the George W. Bush Institute’s Education Policy Working Group and serves as pro bono legal counsel to the World Council of Comparative Education Societies.

Michael has published chapters and articles on higher education policy, finance, law, and collective bargaining in journals such as the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, the Journal of College and University Law, and the Journal of Education Finance. Michael’s opinion and freelance pieces have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Sports Illustrated.

Michael received a BA in history cum laude from Princeton University, a JD from Boston College Law School, and a PhD in Higher Education Administration from New York University. He also has a Certificate of Professional Achievement in Nonprofit Management from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. You can follow his surfing dog Charley at https://www.instagram.com/gnarlycharleynj/