The Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law is excited to announce that Adam Klein has been appointed Director of the Strauss Center. Since 2021, Adam has served as Deputy Director of the Strauss Center, Director of the Strauss Center’s Program on Technology, Security, and Global Affairs, and a Senior Lecturer at the School of Law. He previously served as Chairman of the United States Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. As the Board’s Senate-confirmed Chairman, he oversaw its oversight and advice engagements with other federal agencies, while also serving as the Board’s chief executive officer. He replaces former Strauss Center Director Bobby Chesney, who became the Dean of the University of Texas School of Law on July 1.

“The Strauss Center truly could not be in better hands,” Dean Chesney said.  “Adam is a stellar national security expert who combines unique practical experience with a brilliant mind and tremendous creativity. He already has made a major impact on our operations and agenda, including through his innovative approach to technology policy issues. Under Adam’s leadership, I expect the Center to burnish its national and international reputation. We are a key part of bringing UT to the world and the world to UT, and we’ll reach new heights under his leadership.”

Before entering government, Adam was the Robert M. Gates Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a bipartisan national-security research institution in Washington, DC. There, his research focused on government surveillance, intelligence powers, and national security law. Previously, Adam practiced law at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr, LLP and served as a law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He also worked on national-security policy at the RAND Corporation, the 9/11 Public Discourse Project (the non-profit successor to the 9/11 Commission), and in the U.S. Congress.

“The Strauss Center is one of the nation’s premier academic centers on international security and law,” Adam said.  “I look forward to leading the Center as we expand our work across the UT campus and our engagement on the most pressing questions facing America’s national security leaders.”

The unanimous appointment was made by the Strauss Center’s board, which includes President Jay Hartzell, Provost Sharon Wood, Dean J.R. DeShazo of the LBJ School of Public Affairs, Admiral Bobby Inman, Larry Temple, and Dean Chesney.

“I want to express my deepest appreciation to everyone—students, staff, faculty, alumni, and friends around the globe—who have been part of the Strauss Center story in recent years,” added Dean Chesney, who will continue to lead the Strauss Center’s work on cybersecurity.