Klein, Robert, 1924-2010

Robert Klein (1924-2010), Distinguished Alumnus of Penn State University, was born in Philadelphia and enrolled at Penn State in 1942. He served in the Marine Corps in the Marshall Islands and Saipan from 1943 to 1945, earning two Purple Heart Medals and two citations before a shattered leg ended his active service. He returned to Penn State in 1945 and played on the 1947 championship golf team before completing his degree in commerce and finance in 1948. Upon graduation, Klein joined the Caloric Corporation, where he rose to chairperson and CEO before leaving in 1969 to serve several other national and international companies as director and/or board member; he also started businesses in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Jamaica, and Venezuela. He retired as chairperson and CEO of AllianceWall Corporation, a manufacturer of porcelain-on-steel coils and insulated architectural panels, in 1987, but went on to become involved in three more companies as well as serving as the 65th president of the Penn State Alumni Association. Klein also served as Director of the Pennsylvania Ceramic Society, and Director and Treasurer of the Porcelain Enamel Institute in Washington DC. He received the 1978 Smeal College of Business Administration Alumni Achievement Award, was named an Alumni Fellow in 1981, and was granted the 1994 Penn State Distinguished Alumni Award. Klein and his wife Judith (a 1947 graduate of Penn State) have three children. Klein died 6 February 2010.