Robert E. Kelley

Robert Kelley is a 1956 Rutgers graduate who earned first team All-America honors as a midfielder in 1955 and 1956. He was also voted Rutgers' outstanding athlete for both of those years. An All-Metro selection at New York's Peekskill Military Academy, Kelley continued his career at Rutgers where he became the all-time leading scorer with 100 goals in three varsity seasons. He was the fourth leading scorer in the nation as a senior with 39 goals and he averaged 3.9 goals per game over his last two years. Kelley co-captained the Rutgers varsity football and lacrosse teams, and co-captained the 1956 North All-Star Team. 

Kelley received Rutgers' Scholar Athlete Award, the Outstanding Air Force ROTC Cadet Award and was a distinguished military graduate. In 1967, Kelley became the first varsity lacrosse coach at the Air Force Academy. His first team posted an 8-2 record and won the Rocky Mountain Conference title. He was also the vice-president of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Association, and led the expansion of lacrosse in that region in the mid-1960s. 

Kelley eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant general in the United States Air Force, and become the United States Air Force Academy's ninth Superintendent in 1981. He served two years in that role and retired as a lieutenant general in 1986. Kelley passed away in February, 2021, at 87 years of age.