When he was 33 years old and serving as head of the colleges' department of philosophy, he was appointed by Bishop (later Archbishop)
Thomas J. Walsh of
Newark to serve as president of Seton Hall College in July 1936, making him the nation's youngest college president. When he took office, he led a liberal arts school that had an enrollment of 300. During his tenure, he oversaw the admission of women and the construction of the
Walsh Gymnasium, as part of a project initiated in 1939 that would cost $600,000 (equivalent to $ million in ). He was named as a monsignor by Pope Pius XII in 1941, making him the youngest priest in the Newark Archdiocese to be recognized with that designation. Kelley stepped down from office at Seton Hall in March 1949 in the wake of an investigation into the school by the federal government that looked into potential improper sales of war surplus equipment that had been given for the school's use. He was succeeded by
John L. McNulty. Enrollment at the school had grown to 6,000 by the time he left office. A year later, the school was granted
university status. He died at
Ocean Medical Center on September 11, 1996. ==References==