Biography

Sandra Kelly was born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario and received her Ph.D. from McGill University in neuroscience in 1985.  Her postdoctoral training was at the University of Iowa and SUNY Albany prior to assuming an assistant professor faculty position in the Department of Psychology at the University of South Carolina in 1988.  She moved through the faculty ranks and was promoted to the rank of full professor in 2000.   Her teaching has included a range of courses from introductory psychology to introduction to neuroscience to drug use and abuse to advanced graduate courses in neuroscience. Dr. Kelly’s main line of research focused on the impact of alcohol exposure on the developing brain and was funded by National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism for seventeen years and other federal and non-profit agencies.

Her extensive service to the university includes being Chair of the Faculty Senate, serving as an Associate Dean in the South Carolina Honors College, and serving for seven years as Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Studies. In this latter role, her portfolio included the undergraduate curriculum and general education core; directors of fourteen different units reported to her at various times, including the directors of the Center for Teaching Excellence, Global Carolina, and the University Advising Center.  She has been an affiliate of the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neuroscience at the School of Medicine Columbia since 1988 and has had extensive collaborations with many of the School of Medicine faculty. Dr. Kelly has been the recipient of teaching, mentoring and research awards including being awarded the Carolina Trustee Professorship for having combined strengths in teaching, research and service. 

She began serving as the Director of Academic Affairs and Interim Assistant Dean for the Pre-clerkship Curriculum in February of 2024.  In 2025, she was recognized with the Dean’s Leadership Award, a distinction within the Dean’s Distinguished Service Awards that honors exemplary leadership in academic medicine. Dr. Kelly has greatly enjoyed her time working with the faculty, staff, and administrators at the School of Medicine Columbia and is honored to receive this award.