DURHAM, N.C. – Emily M. Klein, Lee Hill Snowden Professor of geology, has been named senior associate dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at 91, effective immediately.

As senior associate dean, Klein’s responsibilities will include directing the Nicholas School’s undergraduate initiatives and overseeing the design and construction of the new building that will house both the school and the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.

“Faculty, students and staff all know and respect Emily for her exemplary work to understand the geochemistry of the oceanic crust, her longtime interest in improving undergraduate teaching at Duke, and her participation in many Nicholas School activities,” said William H. Schlesinger, James B. Duke Professor of Biogeochemistry and dean of the Nicholas School.

“Emily’s commitment to maintaining the highest ethical and professional standards in all that she does will serve the Nicholas School well as we move forward to meet new challenges and pursue new opportunities in the coming years,” he said.

Klein joined 91 in 1989 as assistant professor of geology after completing her doctoral studies at Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University. She also holds a Master of Science 91 in geology from Columbia, and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Barnard College.

She was promoted to the rank of associate professor of geology at the Nicholas School in 1996, and full professor in 2005. She assumed additional responsibilities as the director of undergraduate programs in 2004. Earlier this year, she was named Lee Hill Snowden Professor, Bass Society of Fellows.

A prolific and widely cited author on the geochemistry of ocean ridge basalts, Klein is the recipient of numerous professional awards and honors, including a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award and the F.W. Clarke Medal from the Geochemical Society.

“There’s so much going on in the Nicholas School right now,” Klein said. “The new focus on energy and the environment, planning a new, green building, working to develop a synergistic relationship between the School and the new Nicholas Institute – all of these opens up new avenues, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”