Rita Mae Kelly
{{Short description|American political scientist (1939–2001)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Rita Mae Kelly
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| birth_date = December 10, 1939
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| death_date = September 16, 2001
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| nationality = American
| fields = {{ubl|Political science}}
| alma_mater = {{ubl|University of Minnesota|Indiana University}}
| workplaces = {{ubl|American University|Rutgers University|Arizona State University|University of Texas at Dallas}}
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Rita Mae Kelly (December 10, 1939 – September 16, 2001) was an American political scientist. She was a professor of political science at the University of Texas at Dallas, where she held the Andrew R. Cecil Endowed Chair in Applied Ethics. She was also the Dean of the School of Social Sciences at UT Dallas.
Education and positions
Kelly attended the University of Minnesota, where she obtained a B.A. degree in Russian and history. She then graduated from Indiana University with an M.A. degree, followed by a PhD. After completing her PhD, she became a researcher at American Institutes for Research, affiliated with American University. She then moved to Rutgers University, followed by Arizona State University and then the University of Texas at Dallas.
Kelly held a number of positions in academic administration. She was the Chair of the Department of Urban Studies and Community Development at Rutgers University, where she was also the Director of the Forum for Policy Research and Public Service.{{cite journal |first=Jane |last=Bayes |title=In memoriam: Rita Mae Kelly |journal=PS, Political Science & Politics |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=139–140 |date=March 2002}} At Arizona State University, she was the Chair of the Justice Studies Department. At the University of Texas at Dallas, she was both Dean of the College of Social Sciences, and the founding Director of the Center for Empowerment and Global-Local Equity.{{cite web |url=https://www.utdallas.edu/news/faculty-staff/dr-rita-mae-kelly-utds-andrew-r-cecil-distinguished-chair-in-applied-ethics-and-former-dean/#:~:text=Share-,Dr.,holder%20of%20the%20Andrew%20R.&text=Most%20recently%2C%20she%20was%20awarded,field%20of%20women%20and%20politics%20%E2%80%A6 |title=Dr. Rita Mae Kelly, UTD's Andrew R. Cecil Distinguished Chair In Applied Ethics and Former Dean |publisher=University of Texas at Dallas |date=15 October 2001 |access-date=25 November 2020}}
Kelly was the 1988–1989 President of the Policy Studies Organization, and in that same year was the President of the Western Political Science Association.
Research
In addition to journal articles and chapters in edited volumes, Kelly was either an author or editor of more than a dozen books. Her research was concerned with understanding gender inequalities in public policy and political and economic structures. For example, in 1991 she published the book The Gendered Economy: Work, Careers, and Success,{{cite journal |first=Fiona |last=Devine |title=Review The gendered economy: Work, careers, and success |journal=Work, Employment & Society |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=507–509 |date=September 1, 1992|doi=10.1177/095001709263017 |s2cid=220492488 }} which is a study of the place of women in the economy of the United States, with a particular focus on the economy of Arizona.{{cite journal |title=Review The gendered economy: Work, careers, and success |journal=Contemporary Psychology |volume=37 |issue=8 |pages=808 |date=August 1992 |doi=10.1037/032514|last1=No Authorship Indicated }} In 1995, Kelly co-edited Gender Power, Leadership, and Governance with Georgia Duerst-Lahti.{{cite journal |first=Susan B. |last=Hansen |title=Review Gender power, leadership, and governance |journal=Vol |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=831–835 |date=1999}} This book is an edited collection of work on the gender imbalances in leadership and governance, studying how imbalances in power by gender have been encoded into political institutions, and how those institutions then reinforce differentials in political power by gender.{{cite journal |first=Sue |last=Thomas |title=Review Gender power, leadership, and governance |journal=The American Political Science Review |volume=92 |issue=2 |pages=456 |date=June 1998 |doi=10.2307/2585700|jstor=2585700 }} By studying the exclusionary mechanisms of political institutions, the work in Gender power was noted for having concrete implications for women in government.{{cite journal |first=Karen |last=Triggs |title=Review Gender power, leadership, and governance |journal=Feminist Review |volume=60 |pages=112–113 |year=1998}}
Kelly was given an Honorary Doctorate in Political Science by Umeå University. In 1991, the American Society for Public Administration awarded Kelly the Distinguished Research Award for Research on Women in Public Administration. In 1992, she won the Aaron Wildavsky Award from the Policy Studies Organization for the best book on policy studies. She also received the 1995 Merriam Mills Award from the Policy Studies Organization. Kelly won the Outstanding Mentor Award from the Women's Caucus for Political Science in the American Political Science Association in both 1991 and 1996. She served on numerous journal editorial boards, and was the chief editor of the Journal of Women, Politics & Policy from 1987 to 1992.
Kelly died in 2001. The Rita Mae Kelly Fund for research was established in her honor by the American Political Science Association.{{cite web |url=https://politicalsciencenow.com/apsa-rita-mae-kelly-fund-support-gender-race-and-ethnicity-research-in-political-science/ |title=APSA Rita Mae Kelly Fund: Support Gender, Race, and Ethnicity Research in Political Science |publisher=American Political Science Association |date=December 14, 2015 |access-date=25 November 2020}}
Selected works
- {{Cite book|author=Rita Mae Kelly|title=The Gendered Economy: Work, Careers, and Success |isbn=978-0-8039-4216-5 |publisher=SAGE Publications |year=1991 |url=https://archive.org/details/genderedeconomyw0000kell/mode/2up |author-mask=1}}
- {{Cite journal|title=Public Managers in the States: A Comparison of Career Advancement by Sex |author1=Rita May Kelly|author-mask=1|display-authors=etal |journal=Public Administration Review |volume=51 |issue=5 |year=1991 |pages=402–412 |publisher=Wiley |doi=10.2307/976409 |jstor=976409}}
- {{Cite book|editor1=Rita Mae Kelly |editor2=Georgia Duerst-Lahti |title=Gender Power, Leadership, and Governance |isbn=978-0-472-06610-0 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=1995 |url=https://archive.org/details/genderpowerleade0000unse/page/n7/mode/2up |editor-mask=1}}
- {{Cite journal|author=Rita May Kelly|author-mask=1|title=An Inclusive Democratic Polity, Representative Bureaucracies, and the New Public Management |journal=Public Administration Review |volume=58 |issue=3 |year=1998 |pages=201–208 |publisher=Wiley |doi=10.2307/976560 |jstor=976560}}
- {{Cite journal|title=The Gendered Bureaucracy |author1=Rita May Kelly |author2=Meredith Newman |author-mask=1 |journal=Women & Politics |volume=22 |issue=3 |year=2001 |pages=1–33 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.1300/J014v22n03_01 |s2cid=152374222}}
Selected awards
References
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Category:American women political scientists
Category:University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni
Category:Indiana University alumni
Category:American University faculty
Category:Rutgers University faculty
Category:Arizona State University faculty
Category:University of Texas at Dallas faculty
Category:20th-century American women