On September 20, 2021, the University of Delaware’s Weinberg Center announced that Justin P. Klein has been named as the new director of the Center.  Mr. Klein assumed leadership of the Center on September 20, 2021. 

Justin Klein has been a member of the Weinberg Center’s Advisory Board since 2015. He was a partner at Ballard Spahr LLP from 1992 through 2019 and most recently has served as senior counsel at the firm. He has represented public and private companies and their boards and board committees in a variety of transactions, including securities offerings and mergers and acquisitions. He also has advised firms in the securities industry, including broker-dealers and investment banks, and has assisted clients in day-to-day corporate governance and other transactional matters. Before entering private practice, Klein served for nine years at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, holding positions including assistant director of the Division of Corporation Finance. He has been recognized by Chambers USA, receiving its highest ranking in corporate/M&A and securities law (2003-2021) and was named one of the Best Lawyers in America in corporate law, mergers and acquisitions law and securities capital markets law (2006-2021) and Lawyer of the Year in Mergers and Acquisitions Law (Philadelphia/2020). He is a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association and served on the Attorney Advisory Committee of the Pennsylvania Securities Commission. At Ballard Spahr, Mr. Klein was a member of the Elected Board and a member of the firm’s Diversity Council. He is active in community service, having served as board chair and a board member of The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, president of the board of Settlement Music School and board chair at Pomfret School. Klein earned his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and J.D. from George Washington University Law School.

Klein replaces the founding director of the Weinberg Center, Charles Elson, professor of finance and Edgar S. Woolard, Jr. Chair in Corporate Governance, who stepped down from the position in 2020. Lerner’s Department Chair of Finance, Laura Field, Donald J. Puglisi Professor of Finance, served as interim director after Elson’s departure.

A search committee was chaired by Field and included Advisory Board members Carol Ward and Jennifer Voss, and Lerner Professors John D’Arcy, Kati Tackacs Haynes, Jennifer McCloskey, Jeremy Tobacman and Fei Xie. Lerner Center Directors Wendy Smith and Amanda Bullough of the Women’s Leadership Initiative and Carlos Asarta of the Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship also met with candidates during the search and will provide mentorship on leading a collaborative center that showcases scholarship and builds valuable connections among faculty, students and business leaders.

Justin Klein’s Bio

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