Georgia Educator Brendan Kelly Named President of ASU System

Brendan Kelly, the new president of the Arkansas State University System (Photo provided by the ASU System)

The Arkansas State University System on Wednesday announced that its board of trustees had selected Brendan Kelly, president of the University of West Georgia since 2020, to become the third president of the ASU System.

Kelly succeeds Chuck Welch, who left the system in January after nearly 13 years to become president and CEO of the American Association of State Colleges & Universities in Washington, D.C.

In a news release, the system said Kelly’s start date has not been finalized but will be no later than Oct. 1. Robin Myers will continue to serve as interim system president until that time.

Kelly was chosen among 23 applicants during a two-month search led by the board and higher education search firm Academic Search Inc. of Washington, D.C.

His five-year contract incudes an annual salary of $450,000.

Prior to joining West Georgia, Kelly 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, where he led a $50 million capital campaign. His teaching career spanned 13 years in Florida and Michigan in communication arts.

According to the release, Kelly’s focus at West Georgia has been innovative programming inside and outside the classroom that leads to valuable life and career outcomes for students, with a commitment to launch and advance student careers upon graduation. He serves on the board of directors of multiple regional and state economic development entities, as well as the Atlanta Regional Higher Education Consortium.

West Georgia’s campuses in Carrollton, Newnan and Douglasville have a combined 12,769 students.

The ASU system has almost 35,000 students on campuses in Arkansas and Queretaro, Mexico, and globally online.

“We believe Dr. Kelly’s experience and outstanding record of achievement throughout his career will continue the growth and development of our System and lead us in addressing the everchanging challenges facing higher education and our focus on student success,” Price Gardner, trustee and chair of the search committee, said in a statement. “He has been described as a visionary, talented communicator and a person with the ability to elevate the reputation of the institution and further its mission. Our board looks forward to the opportunity to work with him.”

Kelly received a bachelor’s in public relations and a master’s in communication at Eastern Michigan University. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy in communication at Wayne State University.

“I am humbled by the opportunity to lead the ASU System because it represents one of a handful of roles in the United States in which one has the ability to influence and shape higher education throughout an entire state,” Kelly said. “Additionally, I am grateful to each member of the ASU Board of Trustees for their faith in me to offer leadership to a university system that has the capacity to provide access to high quality, higher education to the vast majority of Arkansans and many more beyond the state borders. This is an opportunity to support the economic evolution of the state at large.”