Kelley named outstanding faculty member

Robert S. Kelley, Ed.D., has received SCS's Itzkowitz Family Distinguished Faculty Award for 2009.

Kelley joined the School of Continuing Studies in 1985. He is an adjunct faculty member in the undergraduate and graduate Human Resources Management programs. His professional areas of expertise include growth and operations planning, retail operations, food merchandising, productivity, human resources, organizational culture, change management, and service delivery.

Kelley earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Florida State University in 1977. In 1988, he earned a Master of Education degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. In 1991, Kelley took a hiatus from teaching to pursue his doctoral degree in education, which he received from The College of William and Mary in 1998.

Kelley is president and principal consultant of Pure Culture Consulting, a boutique leadership and organization consulting firm he founded in 2004, which specializes in helping CEOs to create and execute growth strategies. Prior to founding Pure Culture Consulting, Kelley spent seventeen years at Ukrop's Super Markets. He joined Ukrop's in 1987 as vice president of human resources and later became vice president of operations. During his tenure at Ukrop's, Kelley led the effort to develop a high-performance service culture that has been featured in numerous books, articles, and television shows.

Kelley has also been a featured speaker at international, national, state, and local conferences for many organizations, including the Food Marketing Institute, the National Grocers Association, and the Society for Human Resource Management.

Established in 1977, this award recognizes the teaching achievements of an adjunct faculty member, and selection is determined by a vote of current SCS students. Named in honor of Fred Itzkowitz, '75, president of SLI Insurance Company, the award was endowed by Itzkowitz and his family in 2006.

Posted May 20, 2009