The Department of Landscape Architecture (DoLA) celebrates the works and memories of their long-term faculty member Dr. Charles Klein. In his 20-years journey at Texas Tech University, Dr. Klein established a legacy of integrated teaching, research, and services for advancing the discipline of landscape architecture (LA). To many of his colleagues in the department, he was a mentor and a friend – a wonderfully kind person. He had planned to retire in January 2021 to enjoy life, travel, visit his grandkids, and keep working hands-on to make playful outdoor learning environments for children. Unfortunately, Dr. Klein died of COVID late afternoon on the day of Christmas in 2020.

After more than three decades of professional practice in landscape architecture, Dr. Klein began teaching in the year 2002. From the beginning of his academic career, he advocated for hands-on, experiential learning. Named a Service Learning Faculty Fellow in 2008, Dr. Klein not only implemented these pedological practices to train future landscape architects but also served as a mentor for new service learning fellows in the university.

Dr. Klein also developed a nationally recognized study abroad program for LA students focused on community development by design. The program ran for almost a decade, centering on a community-focused ecotourism project in the Yucatan peninsula and Merida, Mexico. He led students working with rural Mayan communities to develop low-impact tourism projects focused on sustainable income for the community while protecting their history, heritage, culture, and natural environments. Much of his scholarly work focused on developing strategies for combining service-learning with study abroad, design teaching pedagogies, and Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTD).

Not only a passionate educator in LA, Dr. Klein also had significant contributions in advancing landscape research to improve human health and wellbeing through design. His notable contributions in federal grant writing in LA included two USDA grants and three Texas DSHS grants on children's healthy outdoor learning environments. Starting in 2017, Dr. Klein co-developed the OLE! Texas initiative and worked tirelessly for improving early childhood environments through his research, teaching, and services to promote healthier, more active Outdoor Learning Environments (OLEs). As PI on a USDA Grant, he led the Greenscape Design Studio that employed students as interns to design water conserving landscapes for Lubbock area residences.

Dr. Klein was recognized for numerous contributions. His honors and awards include President's Emerging Engaged Scholarship Award (2020) and CASNR's College Advising Award (2012). He served as Interim Department Chair from 2013-2016. He also served as the faculty advisor to the university's Student American Society of Landscape Architects and Sigma Lambda Alpha, a scholastic honor society that recognizes academic achievement among students in the field of landscape architecture. Dr. Klein was a founding member of TTU's Coalition for Natural Learning (CNL) – a collaboration between Texas Tech faculty, Texas state agencies, departments, organizations, and childcare centers. Upholding Dr. Klein's legacy, the CNL continues to engage with its partners through research, teaching, service, outreach, and engagement, working towards the common goal of creating environments that promote natural learning for children and their caregivers.

Dr. Klein will always be remembered for his wonderful personality, humors, and quick wit. The Department deeply misses his joyful presence, and his untimely death is a great loss for Texas Tech and the community of landscape professionals and students in general.