Kelley, Alec E. 1923–

(Alec Ervin Kelley)

PERSONAL: Born November 6, 1923, in Houston, TX; son of Alfred Allee (a farm implement dealer) and RayOla (a homemaker; maiden name, Fielder) Kelley; married K. Alita Haley (a professor of modern languages and a translator), May 29, 1970. Education: Attended Edinburg Junior College (now University of Texas—Pan American), 1940–42; University of Texas at Austin, B.S., 1944; Purdue University, M.S., 1949, Ph.D., 1956. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Humanist. Hobbies and other interests: Opera, travel, recreational writing.

ADDRESSES: Home—154 Chandler Dr., West Chester, PA 19380-6805.

CAREER: Manhattan Project, Chicago, IL, chemist, 1944–46; University of Arizona, Tucson, began as assistant professor, became professor of chemistry, 1952–86, professor emeritus, 1987–. Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, professor, summers, 1967–68; Pennsylvania State University, Delaware County Campus, professor, 1993. W.M. Symposia, Inc., member of board of directors, 1992–2002. Hospitality International, member of Tucson board of directors, 1970–85; Humanist Community of Tucson, member of board of directors and "occasional president," 1958–92; Humanist Association of Greater Philadelphia, editor of newsletter, 1993–. Military service: U.S. Army, 1944–46; received Meritorious Unit Award.

MEMBER: American Chemical Society, American Humanist Association, U.S. Servas (area representative, 1986–).

AWARDS, HONORS: National Science Foundation awards, 1958–61.

WRITINGS:

(Translator, with wife Alita Kelley) José Promis, The Identity of Hispanoamerica, University of Arizona Press (Tucson, AZ), 1991.

Take Me Away to Dreamland: Dreams and Daytime Reveries (short stories and essays), XLibris Press (Philadelphia, PA), 2000.

The Eye at the Center (poetry), XLibris Press (Philadelphia, PA), 2005.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Looking at the King, a memoir; Way Out West, a novel.

SIDELIGHTS: Alec E. Kelley once told CA: "My professional career has been mostly that of a chemist and a professor of chemistry. Even during that time, I was particularly concerned with good writing, of precision and clarity, which I consider essential in scientific papers and desirable in all writing; though the style may be experimental, the desired effect should be conveyed as well as possible. I began writing as a writer only after my retirement from teaching, when I began collaborating with my wife on some of her writings."

"I have never set out to write books. They seem just to grow. As a night person, I usually do most of my writing during the two or three hours after midnight."

"The writers whose works have most influenced me include Jane Austen, for her clarity of vision and gentleness of presentation even when being most critical, Bertrand Russell, for the precision and straight-forwardness of his style, and Robert Barnard, for his cynical satire."