Special thanks to our 2025 Samuel E. Kelly Distinguished Faculty Lecturer, Dr. Carolyn Pinedo-Turnovsky
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.
Photos of this year’s event are coming soon! Should you have any questions, please reach us at morac@uw.edu.
In October, 2025, we hosted the annual Samuel E. Kelly Distinguished Faculty Lecture featuring Dr. Carolyn Pinedo-Turnovsky of the University of Washington. Her lively discussion of Beyond Status: Living Undocumented in Disruptive Times, has been our most popular lecture to date. We are deeply grateful for the presence and engagement of our community in this important conversation. We hope to see you next year!
Questions? Please reach morac@uw.edu.
About 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. The Samuel E. Kelly Distinguished Faculty Lecture honors his life’s work and impact at University of Washington.