NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Garrett C. Klein, senior associate director of undergraduate admissions at Vanderbilt University, died Sunday of injuries suffered in a traffic accident in Georgia. He was 32. Son Bennett Derby Klein, 4, also died in the accident.
Klein, a graduate of Oxford High School in Oxford, Miss., graduated in 1993 from the University of Pennsylvania. He worked his entire career at Vanderbilt.
Klein recruited students to the university, working closely with the College of Arts and Science and athletics.
"He was a gifted admissions officer who loved his Vanderbilt colleagues and his work equally," said William M. Shain, dean of undergraduate admissions. "I think he’ll be remembered for how much he cared about everybody individually, for his quick mind and his remarkable sense of humor."
The Kleins were driving to Nashville from Florida when the wreck happened near Exit 66 off Interstate 75, in Tifton, Ga. A tractor-trailer exiting the interstate hit a utility pole, which fell on I-75 and caused the accident, said Shannon Brown, a spokeswoman for the Georgia State Patrol.
Klein and his son died at the scene. Stacy Stansell Klein, wife of Garrett and mother of Bennett, suffered minor injuries. Stacy Stansell Klein is a research assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Vanderbilt, and a mathematics and physics teacher at University School of Nashville.
The funeral is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 2, at First Baptist Church Nashville.
Media contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
Jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu