He would later describe his years at UD as the best years of his professional life.

Dr. Kelly believed that his students should experience crime and the justice system firsthand, face to face with witnesses and, at times, the criminal. He would bring experts from around the world to discuss their cases directly with the students, and he led numerous trips to locations that could place students at the scene of the crime.

His courses centered on how a basic crime could alter the future, how acts of murder, kidnapping and other crimes could start wars and change the world.  Many of his courses dealt with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and his students traveled to Dallas and met with retired local police, Secret Service and other federal agents.

“Of all the contacts that a scholar makes with art, poetry, history and philosophy, none keeps his intellectual muscles as pliant and his academic armor as polished as a steady confrontation with young, questioning minds,” Professor Kelly wrote.

After teaching thousands of UD students over the years, he retired in 2004.

Eric Rise, associate professor of sociology, said, “I was saddened to learn of John’s passing. He was a gregarious and welcoming colleague when I arrived at UD. He was also modest. Several years went by before I knew that he had been a Fulbright Fellow, and had worked with the United Nations on global criminal justice policy.

“In many ways, John was ahead of his time as an instructor," Rise said. "Before ‘true crime’ became a ubiquitous genre, he was teaching courses such as Great Crimes, The Kennedy Assassination and The Study of Murder, which used notorious homicide cases as a vehicle to teach investigative methods. He was also teaching with PowerPoint before PowerPoint was invented. In his basement at home, he stored thousands of photographic slides depicting people, places and events associated with the history of crime throughout the world. For every class he would painstakingly assemble text and images to illustrate the day’s topic. His purpose was not simply to enliven his lectures, but to encourage students to develop skills of observation and memory.

“John had a devoted following of students who appreciated his unique teaching style. It’s never a surprise to me when a UD alumnus, upon finding out that I teach criminal justice, asks me, ‘Is Dr. Kelly still teaching?’ This includes former students from all majors who were attracted to his courses by his reputation and the interesting subject matter he taught. They usually remember which course they took with him, an anecdote he told or a particularly memorable slide he had shown in class,” Rise said.

About John Kelly

Born in Brooklyn, Professor Kelly was sworn in as a patrolman in New York City in 1951. There he worked in all phases of law enforcement, including crime prevention, traffic control, vice suppression, criminal investigation and community relations.

While working the midnight shift, he was able to attend Brooklyn College, where he earned a bachelor's degree in psychology. After receiving his master's degree from the City University of New York, Professor Kelly received a Fulbright Scholarship in 1962 to study criminology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He was the first police officer to gain a Fulbright fellowship to study the operations and procedures at Scotland Yard, comparing the London law enforcement operation with his own experiences in New York City.

After the fellowship, Professor Kelly returned to the New York Police Department and continued graduate study at New York University where he received his doctorate.

In 1968, he retired from the police department and became a criminologist in the social defense section of the United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs, where he was responsible for planning programs that would effectively cope with crime on an international basis.

Dr. Kelly is survived by his son, Ken, four adult grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Dr. Kelly’s memory to the Pencader Cemetery Association, P.O. Box 444, Bear, DE 19701.

To read his complete obituary or leave online condolences, visit Spicer-Mullikin Funeral Homes.