Sandi Klein’s enormous success in the broadcast news industry is legendary. Well recognized for her delivery of the news during her 20-year afternoon drive anchor shift for New York’s highly reputed 1010 WINS news radio station, Klein’s career is nothing short of inspirational for aspiring broadcasters. Along with her many achievements in one of the nation’s most competitive markets, her family ties to Hofstra make her story even more compelling.
Two members of Klein’s family held notable distinctions at Hofstra. Her mother-in-law, Roslyn Klein, received a master’s degree from Hofstra in 2009 at the age of 90 during a special ceremony in President Stuart Rabinowitz’s office. She had been pursuing her degree as a young woman, but she stopped when her father passed away. Her long-awaited degree conferment followed her son’s by more than three decades. Klein’s late husband, Jerald R. Klein, earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1974 when he graduated with the inaugural class of Hofstra’s Maurice A. Deane School of Law.
It is coincidental that Klein’s alma mater, New York University (NYU), where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film and Television, shares some history with Hofstra. Hofstra was founded in 1935 as a college affiliated with NYU. In 1939, Hofstra separated from NYU, and then became Long Island’s first private university in 1963.
Even though she did not initially realize that she wanted to go into the radio business, Klein became a prominent voice in the New York area for two decades. She took a circuitous route to 1010 WINS. Prior to becoming a news anchor, she was a broadcast coordinator for Syndicast Services, Inc., and an assistant account executive for Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, Inc.
In 1977, Klein began her career in the radio business. She said that her unusually deep voice was definitely a favorable attribute for a female in the broadcasting world. She hosted several public affairs radio shows and describes one of her most interesting pre-WINS experiences, from September 1989 to October 1990, when hosting “Arts Alive from the Algonquin.” She interviewed several prominent artists in a variety of fields, including Kurt Vonnegut and Isaac Asimov. When she began working at 1010 WINS in 1992, she was already well-established as one of the trusted voices in the New York metropolitan area. Following her retirement from 1010 WINS in 2012, Klein created a weekly podcast called “Conversations with Creative Women” to highlight interesting, artistic or otherwise creative women with interesting stories to tell.
For up and coming communications professionals, Klein advises, “It is important to have a strong sense of oneself, but also, especially in the radio business, know how to tell a good story.”