James J. Kelly, President of Menlo College

“Through collaboration, strategic partnership and understanding diverse global perspectives, Menlo College students will become effective leaders and innovators who will define the future of business.”

James Kelly became the president of Menlo College on January 1, 2011. He had
served as the college’s Executive Vice President and Provost since 2007,
having overseen its reaffirmation of accreditation and implementation of its
mission as a business school.

Kelly joined Menlo after serving as Interim Provost of California State
University, East Bay (CSUEB) and concurrently as the Associate Vice
President for Continuing and International Education. As Associate Vice
President, he oversaw a domestic executive MBA program and international MBA
programs in Hong Kong, Singapore, Moscow, Beijing, Vienna, and Graz
(Austria), as well as a CPA program in Japan. He started up and administered
the East Bay Small Business Development Center for Alameda County with the
U.S. Small Business Administration. Kelly was responsible for international
student recruitment, retention, and housing.

An expert in new program development, Kelly has garnered more than $41
million in grants, contracts, and gifts over the course of his career. While
the Dean of Health and Human Services at California State University, Los
Angeles, he headed a coalition with the Los Angeles Police Department, the
Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, and Cal State LA that resulted in a $96
million state appropriation for the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center
built on the Cal State LA campus (opened 2007).

Teaching for seventeen years in the areas of gerontology, social work, and
student orientation, Kelly was a Professor and the Director of the
Department of Social Work at California State University, Long Beach. He was
a pioneer in distance education having used technology to help establish
masters programs for California State University, Chico, Humboldt,
Hayward, and Bakersfield.

In his recent role as President of the National Association of Social
Workers (NASW), a 145,000-member professional organization, he sat on the
Board of Directors of Assurance Services Insurance (ASI), a $55 million
insurance company developed during his tenure as NASW president.

Kelly earned his PhD from the Heller School for Social Policy, Planning, and
Administration at Brandeis University, his MSSW from the University of
Tennessee, and his BS from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania. He is a
Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.

A strong advocate for ethics and social justice, he is the Co-editor with
Patricia Brownell of Employment and Older Adults: Ageism and Abuse in the
Workplace, New York: Springer SBMNL, forthcoming 2012.