Santa Monica College Receives $1 Million Tech Grant

January 16, 2012 – The Santa Monica College Foundation has received a $1 million technology grant to expand its online classes in an effort to reach students who cannot attend classes on campus, school officials announced Tuesday.

The $1,025,000 from Santa Monica couple Conrad Lee Klein and Joan Dempsey Klein -- the largest gift ever received by the SMC Foundation in support of Technology – will be used to create the Conrad Lee Klein Fund for Online Education. Of the total, $25,000 will be made available “for other school priorities,” officials said.

"This gift will allow SMC to use widely available technology to broaden the scope of its offerings and serve many more students throughout the community and the state," said Vanessa Butler, the Foundation’s executive director.

College officials said the grant would help provide an education for those who cannot attend classes, including working people, parents, individuals with disabilities and those who live outside the Santa Monica area.

"Online education provides an increasingly vital alternative to the traditional college classroom setting," said SMC President Dr. Chui L. Tsang. “(Those) who cannot regularly attend classes on campus will benefit immensely from this extremely generous gift."

Conrad Klein will become a member of SMC's Advisory Committee for the Academy on Entertainment and Technology (AET), which will provide key input to the college president in preparation for the expansion of the technology campus and the incorporation of new academic disciplines.

"Joan and I both understand the problems of poverty," said Conrad Lee Klein, who spent time in an orphanage and foster homes as a child. "We were fortunate enough to overcome them.

“We want to try to help others so they too can find their way up the ladder to success,” Klein said. “We believe that through technology you can reach students of all economic levels."

Conrad Klein is the Trustee of the Mark Hughes Family Trust and president of the Mark Hughes Charity Foundation. He also served for two decades as outside legal counsel to Mark Hughes, the late founder and President of Herbalife.

Born in New York, Klein received his undergraduate degree in business from the NYU Stern School of Business before earning a Juris Doctorate from NYU Law School and Masters of Law from USC Law School.

Joan Klein is the Presiding Justice of the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Three, and the most senior appellate justice in the state of California. She is also the co-founder and first President of the National Association of Women Judges.

A native Californian, Joan Klein attended San Diego State College, where she earned a degree in teaching. She received a law degree from UCLA.

In addition to the $1 million gift to SMC, The Kleins also contributed $2 million to UCLA School of Law for Scholarships.