David Kelly (mathematics educator)
mathematician
David C. Kelly (1940–2025) was a professor of mathematics at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. Kelly founded and directed the Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics program (HCSSiM) for talented high-school students.
Early life and education
Kelly was originally from New Rochelle, New York, but moved frequently as the child of a military father. He held an AB degree from Princeton, an SM from MIT (after stopping out from a doctoral program there) and an AM from Dartmouth.
Career and later life
Kelly taught at Talladega College, New College and Oberlin College before joining Hampshire College in 1970 as one of its founding faculty members. After ten years of teaching summer math programs at St. Paul's School and University of New Hampshire, in 1971 he founded the Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics, an annual six-week program for mathematically talented high-school students. He continued to direct the program until his death.
He died on June 10, 2025, shortly before his 85th birthday. He was survived by his husband of 17 years and partner of 51 years, Al McNeely.
“David Kelly (mathematics educator)” enters the record as mathematician. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what David, Kelly and mathematics can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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