At the University of Miami School of Law's Center for Ethics and Public Service Spring Awards Reception recently, Professor Anthony Alfieri was invested with the Michael Klein Distinguished Scholar Chair. Faculty chairs acknowledge the distinction of the law school's outstanding professors, which is made possible by the incredible generosity of Miami Law's alumni and friends.
"Endowed chairs have a long, illustrious history in academia dating back to the Roman Empire," said interim dean Patricia Abril. "Widely regarded as one of the highest academic achievements, endowed chairs are deeply important to recognizing and cultivating distinction. They play a vital role in recruiting and retaining the finest faculty and celebrating their work.
"In 1994, Michael Klein established the chair for which we are grateful to the two-time University of Miami alumnus, for his outstanding generosity to our School of Law," Abril said. "The Michael Klein Distinguished Scholar Chair enhanced the future of our school and is making a lasting difference to generations of students and scholars," Abril said.
Alfieri is the founding director of the CEPS, overseeing several programs, including the Black Church Program and the Community Equity Lab. Alongside his law faculty role, he is a professor of Public Health Sciences at the Miller School of Medicine and affiliated with the Abess Center for Ecosystem Science & Policy.
"I am here today only because Tony would not take no for an answer 20 years ago," said JoNel Newman, director of the law school's Health Rights Clinic, who presented the medal and chair. "Talents like Tony really elevate our national profile. They are deserved. They bring cross-disciplinary research and attract top students. All of the things that an endowed chair holder should be.
"Tony is a force in the law school and in the community for doing the right thing, for being guided by us, by a moral compass that really matters," Newman said. "He is a force that is crucial today, more than ever before, and he understands the importance of bringing the Academy to the community and the community into the Academy."
Alfieri thanked the University of Miami and the School of Law for 34 years of support and Michael Klein for his generosity in endowing this chair and for his lifelong dedication to civil rights, among many others.
Alfieri graduated magna cum laude from Brown University in 1981 and earned a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law in 1984. He gained practical experience as a community organizer and later served as a staff attorney for the Civil Division of the New York Legal Aid Society, emphasizing public benefits litigation.
He has held teaching positions at New York Law School and Marquette University Law School and has been a visiting professor at several prestigious institutions. Joining the University of Miami in 1991, Alfieri teaches legal ethics, civil procedure, and law firm management and has published 94 articles on civil rights, ethics, and the legal profession, with significant media citations.
His scholarship has impacted various legal fields, referenced by the U.S. Department of Justice and cited in numerous judicial opinions. Under Alfieri's leadership, the CEPS has received multiple awards, including the American Bar Association's E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Award.
He has been active in legal ethics discussions, advising notable committees and serving as a consultant in civil rights and legal ethics cases. Alfieri is involved with several nonprofit boards and has been recognized with multiple teaching and service awards throughout his career.
Under his leadership, CEPS promotes social justice and ethical practice within the legal profession.
Klein, B.B.A. '63, J.D. '66, has a longstanding tradition of commitment to his alma mater. In 2004, the former UM Alumni Trustee endowed the Michael Klein Distinguished Scholar Chair. He also received the Law Alumni Association's Alumni Achievement Award in 2007. In 2003, he was a UM Alumni Association Alumnus in Residence, and in 1995, he was the inaugural Distinguished Alumni Lecturer. While a student at UM, he was editor-in-chief of the University of Miami Law Review and later was tapped to join the prestigious Iron Arrow Honor Society.
In his early career, Klein taught at Louisiana State University, George Washington University, and the University of Virginia law schools. In 1969, he joined the Washington D.C.-based law firm Wilmer Cutler & Pickering (now Wilmer Hale), from which he retired as a managing partner in 2005.
In 1987, he co-founded Costar Group Inc., a NASDAQ-listed fin-tech company where he continues to serve as board chairperson. He also serves as vice chairperson of the board of directors of Tutor Perini Corporation, a publicly held construction company on the New York Stock Exchange.
Among cultural activities, Klein is the chairperson of the board of The Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., and of the Aspen Music Festival and School in Aspen, Colorado. He has founded several nonprofit public interest organizations on whose boards he has also served as chair, including The Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit public education organization that merged into the Berkman Klein Center on Internet and Society at Harvard University, The Gun Violence Archive, and the Global Warming Mitigation Project.
The School of Law has 87 full-time faculty members and eight endowed chairs.
Read more about Miami Law’s faculty.
