Dr. Robert Kelley began serving as UND’s 11th president July 1, 2008.
He had been dean of the College of Health Sciences and professor of medical education and public health at the University of Wyoming since 1999.
Before then, he was associate vice chancellor for research and executive associate dean of the graduate college at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and professor of biological sciences at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and professor of anatomy and cell biology at the College of Medicine, both at the University of Illinois at Chicago. At the University of New Mexico, he served as chair of anatomy and senior executive associate dean, as well as other faculty capacities. He has also taught at the University of California, Berkeley.
Kelley earned his bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas, in 1965, and his master’s degree in 1966 and doctorate in 1969, both in cell and developmental biology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Kelley has served as chair of the Assembly for the Association of American Medical Colleges, chaired the Council of Academic Societies for the AAMC, and was a member of the executive board of the National Board of Medical Examiners, which is responsible for the U.S. medical licensure examination. In addition, he has served the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on several study sections, served on the director’s advisory board for NIH strategic planning, and chaired the Minority Biomedical Research Support Program advisory committee in the NIH Division of Research Resources. That program helped support research for historically black universities, tribal colleges, and "minority-majority" institutions. He also served as principal investigator for the University of Wyoming/Northern Rockies INBRE (IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence), an NIH program which promotes biomedical research and connects the state’s community colleges with the University of Wyoming.
He and his wife, Marcia Bell Kelley, who was a lecturer in the University of Wyoming Department of Communication Disorders, have four children.
University of North Dakota
The University of North Dakota is the most comprehensive research university in the Dakotas and Wyoming. With an economic impact of more than $1 billion, UND has more than $100 million in research and sponsored activities and annually provides educational opportunities for more than 25,000 people, including more than 15,000 students enrolled in for-credit courses. UND is a nationally-ranked comprehensive doctoral-granting research institution, which ranks among the top 100 universities in the nation on many levels. It is one of only 47 universities in the United States with both an accredited School of Law and an accredited School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
