CLINT KELLY

Dr. Clinton W. Kelly III received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1959 from Duke University, and in 1972 was awarded a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan.

At an early age, in the 1950s, he and a friend began to build model rockets, filling the basement with smoke as they tested different propellants.

During the late 1960s he conducted research on how sensors in space could be used to meet national security requirements.

He has continued his interest in space by helping mentor and fund rocket teams at two universities. He had the opportunity to travel twice into space (2022, 2025) and experience for himself what it is like.

The achievement for which he is best known is starting and running the national program developing technology for unmanned ground vehicles, aka driverless cars. Dr. Kelly has run significant research projects while employed by the government and private industry. He has served on fiduciary boards of several corporations, and on advisory boards at several universities.

With a love of travel and a curiosity about the effects of climate change, he and his family have visited all continents multiple times, as well as the High Arctic. A particular interest was to travel in the southern hemisphere to photograph all 21 species of penguins. He and his wife produced a 486-page book describing the penguins, their habitats and other fauna.