1939
Dr. Kelley is born in Atlanta, Georgia to Oscar Lee and Willa Nimmons Kelley.
1963
Dr. Kelley receives a Doctor of Medicine from Emory University and begins an internship in medicine at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas.
1965
Dr. Kelley begins his career as a clinical associate for the section on Human Biochemical Genetics in the Arthritis and Rheumatism branch of the National Institutes of Health.
1967
Dr. Kelley becomes a senior resident of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts and becomes a teaching fellow of medicine at Harvard University.
1968
Dr. Kelley joins the staff at the Duke University School of Medicine as chief of the Division of Rheumatic and Genetic Diseases, a professor of biochemistry, and a professor of medicine.
1973
Dr. Kelley wins the Heinz Karger Memorial Foundation Prize.
1975
Dr. Kelley joins the staff at the Medical School of the University of Michigan as a professor of biological chemistry, a professor of internal medicine, and chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine.
1978
Dr. Kelley is appointed president of the Central Rheumatism Society.
1983
Dr. Kelley is appointed president of The American Society for Clinical Investigation.
1985
Dr. Kelley receives the Distinguished Medical Achievement Award from Emory University.
1986
Dr. Kelley is appointed president of the American College of Rheumatology.
1989
Dr. Kelley receives an honorary Master of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, where he becomes dean of the Perelman School of Medicine and a Robert G. Dunlop professor of medicine.
1989
Dr. Kelley is appointed chief executive officer of the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and Health System in Philadelphia.
1990
Dr. Kelley receives the John Phillips Memorial Award and Medal from the American College of Physicians.
1992
Dr. Kelley serves as trustee emeritus of Emory University.
1993
Dr. Kelley becomes founder and chief executive officer of the first fully integrated academic health system in the United States.
1994
Dr. Kelley serves as editor-in-chief of “Essentials of Internal Medicine.”
1995
Dr. Kelley receives the Robert H. Williams Award from the Association of Professors of Medicine (now the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine).
1997
Dr. Kelley serves as editor-in-chief of “Textbook of Internal Medicine, 3rd Edition.”
2013
Dr. Kelley serves as editor-in-chief of “Kelley’s Textbook of Internal Medicine, 4th Edition.”