Russell V. Kelley Jr., a biology professor at Morgan State University who created a science fair for high school students, died of heart failure July 29 in Roland Park Place. He was 89 years old.
Born in Norfolk, Virginia, he was the son of Russell V. Kelley Sr. and Fannie Armfield. He attended Norfolk Public Schools and was a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School. He received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Virginia State College, a master’s degree from New York University, and a doctorate from Purdue University. He was a fellow of the Ford Foundation.
Dr. Kelley also attended Union College, where he received a General Electric Co. scholarship. in chemistry. He also studied at Pace University and had a National Science Foundation fellowship in ecology at Stanford University.
After teaching in the Downingtown, Pennsylvania and Plainview, New York school systems, he joined the Morgan State faculty in 1966. He taught biology and was chairman of science education as well as the biology department. He was also assistant vice president for academic affairs.
“He was like a Pied Piper for the youth of this neighborhood,” said Rev. Dr. Alvin C. Hathaway Sr., former pastor of Union Baptist Church. “He ran our volunteer cyber center to teach computer skills and along the way gave them history and ethics. He brought his Morgan students to help.”
Dr. Kelley was an official greeter for the congregation, wearing distinctive bow ties, Rev. Dr. Hathaway. “The service was his service. He did it from his heart,” he said.
“He was the prototype of the perfect educator. As a professor, he was not confined to the classroom. He treated all people as worthy of his experience and professionalism. Life was his laboratory,” said the pastor.
“I can see him now taking about 100 young people to a baseball game,” the Rev. also said. Dr. Hathaway. “And being the educator that he was, he was constantly interacting with them.”
Dr. Kelley and his wife formerly belonged to the Lutheran and Disciples of Christ congregations.
He co-founded a science fair at Morgan State University to encourage high school students, especially those who lived in the city, to pursue the field.
He was also the Maryland Chair of the National Mathematics, Engineering Science Achievement Program and a member of the Baltimore Black/Jewish Forum. He also served as a member of the Maryland College Savings Plan and on the Maryland Higher Education Commission.
Dr. Kelley was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and its local Delta Lambda chapter. For many years, he directed the chapter’s annual tennis tournament held at Druid Hill Park.
In a 1997 Sun article, he recalled his years at Druid Hill Park and how it was a popular gathering place for black families.
He was not in favor of a recommendation to eliminate cars by creating a shuttle between Mondawmin Mall and the park, he said in the article, explaining that it was a threat to the Sunday tradition of parading your car through the park, an event of liked. mostly by young people of color.
Environmentalists wanted to ban parking on the grass because it reduces water flow to tree roots.
“When you encounter an influx of young people on Sunday, it becomes a problem,” said Dr. Kelley in the article, adding that visitors to the Maryland Zoo, many of them white, often parked in the grass.
He was married for 66 years to former state senator Delores G. Kelley.
“Russell was calm, competent and steady. He didn’t want any publicity. He let his wife, Delores, take the spotlight. He was the man behind the scenes,” said Larry Gibson, a University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law professor.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. Aug. 16 at Morgan State University’s Murphy Fine Arts Center.
Survivors include his wife and two sons, Russell V. Kelley III, of Gaithersburg, and Dr. Brian T. Kelley, of San Antonio; three sisters, Lorraine Bullock, Lillian K. Pierce and Denise Vice, all of the Norfolk-Virginia Beach area; a brother, Darryl Kelley, of Fort Washington; and three nieces. A daughter, Norma Kelley-Johnson, died in 2014.