The National Humanities Center (NHC), a private, nonprofit dedicated to advancing discovery about the human experience and fostering community among humanities practitioners, selected historian Blair LM Kelley Ph.D. as its next president and director. She is the first woman, the first person of color, and the first NHC Fellow to lead the Center.
Kelley succeeds J. Porter Durham, Jr., who served as interim president of the Center since the retirement of Robert D. Newman Ph.D. in 2024. She will be charged with enhancing the Center’s renowned fellowship program, developing new initiatives to support emerging scholars and teachers, and advocating for the vital role of the humanities in addressing complex societal challenges.
Her appointment comes as the nearly 50-year old Center looks to expand its reach and impact.
Kelley most recently served as Joel R. Williamson Distinguished Professor of Southern Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was also director of the Center for the Study of the American South and co-director of Southern Futures. Previously, Kelley spent 20 years on the faculty and a decade as an administrator at North Carolina State University, including service as associate dean of interdisciplinary affairs and partnerships.
Her scholarly work offers profound insights into the lives of Black Americans and the history of social movements, and helped connect historical narratives about race, labor, and activism with contemporary issues. Her recent book, Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class (Liveright, 2023), received the 2024 Brooklyn Library Book Award, the 2024 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Book Award, the 2024 Philip Taft Labor History Prize, and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award in History.
In 2024, Kelley was named one of the Top 40 Women in Higher Education by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. She has been a commentator for prominent TV shows and has written for major news publications.
Kelley holds a BA in history and African and African American studies from the University of Virginia. She earned MA and PhD degrees in history, and graduate certificates in African and African American studies and women’s studies at Duke University. She was recently made a fellow of the Society of American Historians.
