Faculty Directory

Melvin J. Kelley

Bio

Melvin J. Kelley IV is an associate professor of law and business within the School of Law and the D’Amore-McKim School of Business. He previously served as an assistant professor of law at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Professor Kelley’s research focuses on the sociopolitical, geospatial and civil rights implications of decentralizing public authority, antidiscrimination jurisprudence governing real estate transactions and community economic development tactics.Through these projects, Professor Kelley seeks to identify and evaluate possibilities for redressing enduring regional inequities in access to resources that enable upward mobility.

Prior to teaching at Villanova, Professor Kelley served as the first Elizabeth Ann Zitrin Teaching Fellow with the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project at Northeastern Law. Before transitioning to academia, he held professional positions with the Connecticut Fair Housing Center and the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut. He currently serves on the advisory board of Northeastern Law’s  Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project and is a faculty fellow with the school’s Center for Law, Equity and Race (CLEAR). Professor Kelley received his BA in political science, economics and Africana studies from the College of the Holy Cross and his JD with Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar Honors from Columbia Law School.

Fields of Expertise

• Civil Rights
• Critical Legal Theory
• Housing Law
• Law and Economic Development
• Property Law
• State/Local Government