Leo Kelly, Jr.

A new Vance-Granville Community College scholarship has been established in honor of longtime college employee Leo Kelly, Jr. of Henderson. Kelly’s colleagues and friends of the college established a fund in his honor when he retired in 2008. At the VGCC Endowment Fund board of directors meeting on Feb. 24, VGCC President Randy Parker announced that the fund would be used to create the Leo Kelly Academic Achievement Scholarship.

Kelly served for 37 years at the college, retiring as Dean of Adult Basic Education and head of the English as a Second Language program. He holds the record as VGCC’s longest-serving full-time employee. “This scholarship will serve as a fitting and lasting tribute to Leo Kelly’s record of leadership and dedication to Vance-Granville students and the community,” said VGCC President Randy Parker.

Kelly earned a B.A. at North Carolina Central University and a master’s degree from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. He became a part-time instructor at Vance County Technical Institute — the school that later became VGCC — in 1970. In 1971, Kelly started working at the college full-time as assistant director of adult education, and he later rose to become Dean of Continuing Education. Under Kelly’s leadership, VGCC’s GED and Adult High School programs grew to become the third-largest in the state.

Kelly has served on the Maria Parham Medical Center board of directors and has been involved in leadership roles with the Henderson Family YMCA, Vance County Arts Council, Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce board of directors, local State Employees Credit Union advisory board, Cotton Memorial Presbyterian Church and the Community Relations Council for the Kittrell Job Corps. Kelly is also a former member of the Henderson City Council. He is a graduate of the Leadership Vance program.

The Leo Kelly scholarship will join more than 300 endowed scholarships for full-time students at the college. VGCC has awarded more than 6,000 scholarships since 1982, and the Endowment Fund awards more endowed scholarships than any other program of its kind in North Carolina. Tax-deductible donations to the VGCC Endowment Fund have often been used to honor or remember a person, group, business or industry with a lasting gift to education.