Brendan Kelly, Ph.D., third ASU System president 
Photo courtesy of A-State

Brendan Kelly began his tenure as the third Arkansas State University System president Sept. 23. 

Kelly said he’s been studying the ASU System for a long time in part because of his friendship with Chuck Welch and his leadership at A-State. He said his primary job is to coordinate all improvement efforts across the system towards the goal of creating the greatest amount of value for every student they are in service to. 

“Regardless of what program or level of education you’re coming from, we’re supposed to elevate your life economically and we’re supposed to elevate this state, both economically and in strengthening communities as a result of our presence and our work,” Kelly said. 

Kelly most recently served as the president of University of West Georgia, in Carrollton, Georgia. He was chancellor at the University of South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg and Greenville from 2017-2020 and was appointed as interim president of the University of South Carolina in 2019. He was vice president of university advancement and president of the UWF Foundation, Inc., at the University of West Florida in Pensacola from 2013-2017 and before that spent 13 years teaching in Florida and Michigan. 

Kelly said he didn’t start his career out with the ambition to be a university system president in mind. 

“I think you start out teaching students and asking questions and being curious about your discipline. If that sits with you well, then you want to be in service to students as much and as intensely as you possibly can,” Kelly said. 

Kelly said over the years, he learned there’s an opportunity to increase the scope of impact which  could affect students’ lives. 

“That was the driving force for me,” Kelly said. “When you have the opportunity to serve an entire university system, multiple institutions, thousands and thousands of students statewide, you get a chance to go and hopefully help drive the forces that help make students successful.”

Previous president of the ASU system, Charles (Chuck) Welch, held the position from Nov. 2010 to Jan 2024. He is now the president and CEO of American Association of State Colleges and Universities in Washington D.C.

Welch said he believes Kelly will be a perfect fit as he is a good communicator and collaborator. Additionally, Welch said Kelly’s diverse experiences within higher education and unwavering commitment to student success only exemplified Kelly as a great choice for the role. 

“I have long admired Dr. Kelly as a leader and change agent in higher education and when I heard the news that he was to be my successor I was thrilled to know that the System is in good hands and the future remains incredibly bright,” Welch said. 

Todd Shields, A-State chancellor, said he welcomes Kelly and his wife Tressa to the A-State family on behalf of all Red Wolves.  

“I look forward to working with Dr. Kelly as we continue developing innovative, student-centered programs to ensure our Red Wolves succeed in the classroom and are prepared for a modern workforce,” Shields said. 

Kelly graduated from Eastern Michigan University (EMU) in Ypsilanti, Michigan with a degree in public relations. He also obtained a graduate degree in communication from EMU and a doctorate in political communication and rhetoric from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. 

“I spent most of college traveling all over the country to other universities, competing in speech and debate competitions,” Kelly said. “When you get a chance to be so deeply involved in representing your university and competing with people who were at the top talent in the country, in your particular area, it makes for a really remarkable experience.” 

Welch said Kellys’ greatest strength is his wife Tressa Kelly, Ph.D.

“They are a dynamic team that will immediately begin to make an impact on the ASU System campuses,” Welch said. 

Kelly said he and Tressa met in college when she was his first-year orientation group leader. They have three children: Bree Lucky, Liam Kelly and Kieran Kelly, as well as a great dane named Georgia. 

Kelly is from Detroit Michigan. He said he is a hockey fan by default and loves sports and competition. 

In his free time he enjoys hiking, is an avid reader of The New York Times and listens to podcasts about politics and economics. 

Kelly said he wanted to work at A-State because it’s different from other university systems as it focuses on blending education with real world jobs opportunities and it is not bogged down by complex rules and regulations.  

“Here we don’t have a really dense bureaucracy, which gives us a chance to change the system in ways that are going to best serve students in the 21st century, rather than worrying about the administrative structures that we built in the 20th century having to be perpetuated,” Kelly said. 

He said it’s important and enriching for him to be in places where the opportunity to work with and form relationships with people. 

“That’s one of the things that we’ve discovered about Arkansas and everybody we’ve met so far, is it’s just this is a very relational place where people do business with people. My wife, Tressa and I, that’s how we like to do business too, is with other people,” Kelly said. “It’s almost less important what the work is and more important how you feel and interact with the people that you’re doing it with.”

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