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Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity

Samuel E. Kelly Distinguished Faculty Lecture

Established in 2005 and named in honor of the UW’s first vice president for the Office of Minority Affairs, the annual Samuel E. Kelly Distinguished Faculty Lecture is dedicated to acknowledging the work of faculty whose nationally-recognized research focuses on diversity and social justice.

2025 Faculty Lecturer: Coming Soon!
Thursday, October 23, 2025

Reception: 5:00 PM | Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center
Lecture: 6:00 PM | Alder Hall Auditorium
Registration Opens: September 2025

Registration includes a lecture reception with heavy hors d’oeuvres and beverages.
Questions? Please reach morac@uw.edu.

About Dr. Samuel E. Kelly

Dr. Samuel E. Kelly

Dr. Samuel E. Kelly was hired as the first vice president for the newly formed Office of Minority Affairs in 1970. Also the first African American senior administrator at the UW, Dr. Kelly was an educational advocate who opened doors for hundreds of underrepresented students at the UW. Many of the programs and services that he established during his six-year tenure still exist today. Among his accomplishments was securing funding to house sites for both the Ethnic Cultural Center (renovated and renamed in his honor in 2015) and the Instructional Center in 1971. Dr. Kelly passed away on July 6, 2009.

Accessibility

For questions, contact OMA&D Advancement at morac@uw.edu.

Both the Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center and the Alder Hall Auditorium are accessible for people with limited mobility. This event will have ASL interpreters and CART captioning live. The recording of this event will have closed captioning.

Alder Hall auditorium has limited wheelchair-accessible seating. To request disability accommodation, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 (voice), 206-543-6452 (TTY), 206-685-7264 (fax), or dso@uw.edu.

The University of Washington makes every effort to honor disability accommodation requests. Requests can be responded to most effectively if received as far in advance of the event as possible, preferably at least 10 days. For questions, please reach morac@uw.edu.