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Kelley, H. J. (Henry Joseph), 1926-1988

 Person

Biographical Note

Henry Joseph "Hank" Kelley was born to Bernard Joseph and Margaret (nee McKillop) Kelley in New York City on February 8, 1926. He was an aerospace engineer and authority on flight optimization. He earned a B.Ae.E. in 1948, M.S. in 1951, and an Sc.D. in 1958, all from New York University.

From 1948-1963, he worked for Grumman Aircraft as a researcher and as assistant chief of the Research Department. In 1963, he founded Analytical Mechanics Associates, which worked with NASA on parameterized steering approaches for Apollo mission planning. From 1978 until his death on February 9, 1988, he served as a professor of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech and held the Christopher C. Kraft, Jr. Chair of the department.

Kelley married Maureen Youngkin on October 26, 1958, and they had two children Henry Bernard and Maureen E.

External sources:

Cliff, E. M., "In Memory of Henry J. Kelley," Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Vol. 60, No. 1, January 1989, pp. 1-5, https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.vt.edu/10.1007/BF00938794, accessed June 20, 2023.

Henry Joseph Kelley death certificate, Virginia, Deaths, 1912–2014. Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, Virginia. On Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/4677324:9278, accessed June 20, 2023.

"Cole-Kelley", Roanoke Times, May 30, 1993, on Virginia Tech website, https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1993/rt9305/930530/05280342.htm, accessed June 20, 2023.

Henry J. Kelley marriage record, New York State Marriage Index, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY., on Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/712924:61632, accessed June 20, 2023.

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Henry J. Kelley Papers

 Collection
Identifier: Ms-1988-021
Abstract The Henry J. Kelley Papers include correspondence, notes, drafts and offprints of publications, teaching materials, and research reports from 1948-1988 documenting the career of Kelley (1926-1988), an aerospace engineer and authority on flight optimization. The majority of the collection consists topic based subject/research files, files on individuals (correspondence, resumes, and papers), teaching/course materials, and conference/professional organizational files. There are drafts and...
Dates: 1948 - 1988