MD Anderson Advisory Board Taps Melvyn N. Klein as Vice Chair

MD Anderson News Release May 19, 2011

Appointment puts Klein in line to become chair in 2014

MD Anderson News Release 5/19/2011

Effective Sept.1, business entrepreneur, investor and attorney Melvyn N. Klein of Corpus Christi will be vice chair of The University Cancer Foundation Board of Visitors (BOV), the advisory board of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The appointment puts Klein in line for a two-year term as BOV chair in 2014-2016.

Klein has played a leadership role since joining the BOV in 1990. He has served on the board’s Executive Committee and Strategic Advisory Committee, for example, and chaired a Technology Transfer Advisory Group. For 10 years, he chaired the Research Advisory Committee, originally established by former President George H. W. Bush during his 2001-2003 term as BOV chair.

Klein served on the Steering Committee of the institution’s South Campus Research Initiative, which launched the Red and Charline McCombs Institute for the Early Detection and Treatment of Cancer in 2005 and ultimately raised $135 million. He currently is on the Executive Committee of MD Anderson’s $1.2 billion Making Cancer History®: The Campaign to Transform Cancer Care.

Klein and his wife, Annette Grossman Klein, are members of the Anderson Assembly, an organization honoring donors who have made a lifetime commitment of $1 million or more to the institution.

Klein was managing general partner of GKH Partners LP, an equity investment partnership he established in 1988 with Dan W. Lufkin of New York and Thomas J. Pritzker and the late Jay A. Pritzker (sponsor of the Pritzker Architectural Prize, the Nobel Prize equivalent in architecture) of Chicago. He has also had meaningful business partnerships with Sam Zell of Chicago, Ernest H. Cockrell of Houston, Howard M. Meyers of Dallas, and the late Michael A. O’Connor of Corpus Christi.

In addition to his contributions to MD Anderson, Klein has held leadership positions in a number of local, state, and national charitable, education, public service and public policy-influencing organizations. He is on the board of directors of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.

“I’m deeply honored to have the opportunity to serve MD Anderson in this new capacity,” said Klein. “The institution continues to set the standard of patient care and research. It’s a beacon of hope for people with cancer and for their families. We on the Board of Visitors do our best to play our respective roles. But the real contributors are those who work there with patients and advance knowledge through cutting-edge research every day. At MD Anderson, I’ve encountered the most extraordinary, dedicated people in the world – from the professionals on staff to the volunteers – all united in its mission of eliminating cancer.  I’m committed to doing my part in advancing their efforts in Making Cancer History®.”

Klein’s term as vice chair will extend throughout Nancy B. Loeffler’s term as BOV chair, which ends Aug. 31, 2012. Klein will become chair-elect under Harry J. Longwell, who assumes the role of chair Sept. 1, 2012 and will hold that position through Aug. 31, 2014. Klein will serve as BOV chair Sept. 1, 2014 through Aug. 31, 2016.