Dr. Robert Kelley, began serving as the 11th president of the
University of North Dakota July 1, 2008.
Kelley had served as the Dean of the College of Health Sciences and as professor of medical education and public health at the University of Wyoming, since 1999.
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.
He has been in his present position since 1999. Prior to that, he was associate vice chancellor for research and executive associate dean of the graduate college at the University of Illinois at Chicago, 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 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 is currently 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 Jean, have four children.
