About

Robert Kelley is a Distinguished Service Professor of Management at the Tepper School of Business. His role involves contributing to the school's leadership and academic excellence in management education. The Tepper School emphasizes experiential learning and practical application across its programs, including undergraduate, MBA, and specialized master's degrees, with a focus on integrating business, technology, and analytics. Kelley’s work aligns with the school's strategic vision to lead at the intersection of business, technology, and analytics, guided by its strategic plan Building The Intelligent Future, which emphasizes AI for Business, Economic Prosperity, and Entrepreneurial Pursuit.

Research topics

• Nuclear chemistry
• Environmental science
• Nuclear engineering
• Radiochemistry
• Chemistry
• Engineering

Selected publications

• Development of uranium and plutonium based nuclear weapons—what impacts the choice of fissile material route?

  Journal of Strategic Trade Control · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  This paper examines the underlying reasons why states have chosen to pursue a particular fissile material route in their nuclear weapons development. This analysis is conducted using case studies that describe historical developments and events, alongside an evaluation of their impact on the choice of fissile material route. Key areas of interest include the role of uranium resources, the visibility or covert nature of nuclear weapons activities, international relations, military delivery systems, and measures imposed by the export controls and nuclear safeguards regimes. The results of the work show that although uranium resources play a role, they impact the route in only one case. Insight into whether or not the nuclear weapon program is conducted openly or covertly does not seem to have impacted the selected fissile material route much, and the same can be said about the military delivery systems. In contrast, international relations, both in terms of government-to-government relations and proliferation networks, appear as far more important. The impact of export control and safeguards measures is shown to depend heavily on the context of international relations and the unique circumstances of each case.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Methodology for Multiparameter Evaluation of Barriers Against Proliferation of Minor Actinides

  Nuclear Technology · 2024

  • Radiochemistry
  • Environmental science
  • Chemistry

  There exist elements apart from uranium and plutonium that could potentially be used to construct the core of a nuclear explosive device. These belong to the so-called minor actinides (MAs), which exist in nonnegligible amounts in spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and are in nearly all cases not covered by international safeguards. Future reprocessing of SNF could result in significant separation of these elements, potentially leading to new proliferation concerns. In this work, a methodology for a transparent assessment of the barriers against proliferation of MAs has been developed and applied to the case of neptunium, americium, and curium separated from spent fuel from pressurized water reactors. In this methodology, openly available data and Monte Carlo simulations have been used to assess the barriers posed by a number of parameters relevant to the production of a nuclear explosive device from SNF. The evaluation shows that the properties of neptunium present low barriers to proliferation and that it should be discussed within the context of future nonproliferation treaties and possibly be placed under international safeguards. The properties of americium and curium present higher barriers to proliferation, meaning that these elements require less focus in the nonproliferation context.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Verifying Nuclear Disarmament: Lessons Learned in South Africa, Iraq and Libya

  2022-12-20 · 2 citations

  reportOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Inspections in the 1990s and early 2000s in South Africa, Iraq and Libya were designed to discover the details of nuclear weapon programmes and destroy any remnants. As the global norm against nuclear weapons strengthens, the international community may once more require verification of a state’s denuclearization. But success in the three earlier cases does not guarantee success in the next similar task—any future inspection mission must learn from the lessons of the past. This report draws on the unique experience of Robert Kelley, a participant in all three past denuclearization efforts. In it, he gives an account of the unique scale and circumstances of each investigation and the different tools and approaches required. By publicly documenting and comparing obstacles and successes in the three cases for the first time, this report will be an essential resource for future inspectors.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• North Korea’s Lithium Research Networks and its Quest for a Hydrogen Bomb

  Korean Journal of Defense Analysis · 2018-01-01 · 3 citations

  articleSenior author

  North Korea claims to have detonated a hydrogen bomb twice as of 2017. While any North Korean claim should be greeted with skepticism, it is important to assess whether North Korea actually has the technical capacity to deliver on its claims. If North Korea believes that it has the capacity to build a hydrogen bomb, this is likely to color its behavior and its negotiating strategy with the United States and other countries. Using new data about research subject areas and co-authoring networks taken from North Korean academic journals, we can gain entree into the opaque North Korean scientific establishment, and the progress (or lack thereof) it has made in processes related to the development of different types of nuclear weapons. We argue that a core group in North Korea has long had an interest in scientific research on lithium industrial processes that would be relevant to hydrogen bombs, although with detours. This interest has been ongoing since the mid-1990s, and peaked several years before North Korea’s first claimed hydrogen bomb test. Based on this assessment, it is within North Korea’s capability to produce a boosted fission device, and possibly a two-stage thermonuclear device. As a result, we conclude that North Korea is likely not bluffing when it says that its nuclear program has reached maturity.

  Publisher

• The Realism of Race in Judicial Decision Making: An Empirical Analysis of Plaintiffs' Race and Judges' Race

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2012-01-01 · 7 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  American society is becoming increasingly diverse. At the same time, the federal judiciary continues to be predominantly White. What difference does this make? This article offers an empirical answer to that question through an extensive study of workplace racial harassment cases. It finds that judges of different races reach different conclusions, with non-African American judges less likely to hold for the plaintiffs. It also finds that plaintiffs of different races fare differently, with African Americans the most likely to lose and Hispanics the most likely to be successful. Finally, countering the formalism model’s tenet that judges are color-blind, the results suggest that judges of one race are more likely to hold for plaintiffs of the same race, suggesting a tendency toward insider group preferences. These findings illustrate the complex race dynamics in judicial decision-making and the consequences of a judiciary that does not reflect the citizenry’s racial diversity.

  Publisher

• Burma nuclear program highlights the need for a standing UN technical body

  Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists · 2010-11-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  The author highlights Burma and recent events surrounding its nuclear program to present a case for the development of a UN technical body to investigate countries suspected of having weapons of mass destruction (WMD). International verification organizations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have no expertise in evaluating technologies outside their core missions, which, he writes, means no international organization can assess the technology of missile delivery systems. Using Burma as a backdrop, the author makes the case for an international technical body, which he outlines in structure, function, and scope.

  PublisherDOI

• The North Korea-Myanmar Relationship: A Technical Perspective

  Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists · 2010-05-01 · 1 citations

  article

  Although the evidence indicates that Myanmar hasn’t achieved a nuclear weapon capability, its ever-tightening connection to Pyongyang and ongoing interest in dual-use technology must be constrained.

  PublisherDOI

• Myth of the Color-Blind Judge: An Empirical Analysis of Racial Harassment Cases

  Open Scholarship Institutional Repository (Washington University in St. Louis) · 2008-01-01 · 31 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  In this Article, we present an exploratory empirical study of federal workplace racial harassment cases that span a twenty-year period. Multiple analyses found that judges' race significantly affects outcomes in workplace racial harassment cases. African American judges rule' differently than white judges, even when one takes into account their political affiliation or certain characteristics of the case. Our findings further suggest that judges of all races are attentive to the relevant facts of the cases but may reach different conclusions depending on their races. When race, political affiliation, and certain case characteristics are all considered simultaneously, the role that race plays loses some statistical significance (as one might expect given the increasing number of variables). While we cannot predict how an individual judge might act, our empirical analysis suggests that African American judges as a group and white judges as a group perceive racial harassment differently. These findings counter the traditional myth that the race of a judge would not make a difference — a myth premised on a presumption of a formalistic and objective decision-making process. Given the underrepresentation of minority judges, the growing minority population in the U.S., and minority skepticism of judicial fairness, this Article offers empirical support for a more racially diverse judiciary. An increase in the number of judges of color promises to increase diverse perspectives in the judicial system and to help unveil the complex reality of racial dynamics in the workplace. Our experiences instantly become part of the lens through which we view our entire past, present, and future, and like any lens, they shape and distort what we see.

  Publisher

• Why Church-Owned Christian Day Schools Are Failing To Meet Their Anticipated Results In The Number of Students Entering Full-Time Ministry

  2003-01-01

  dissertation1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Oral History Interview with Robert E. Kelley, December 3, 2001

  The Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas) · 2001-12-03

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Interview with Staff Sergeant Robert E. Kelley, an Army veteran of the Korean War. Kelley answers questions pertaining to his training, experiences, and his thoughts on the war in Afghanistan as well as his thoughts in hindsight of the Korean War.

  Publisher

Frequent coauthors

• Pat K. Chew

  6 shared

• Vaibhav Mishra

  Uppsala University

  1 shared

• Justin V. Hastings

  Government of New South Wales

  1 shared

• Vitaly Fedchenko

  Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

  1 shared

• Sophie Grape

  1 shared

• Andrea Stricker

  1 shared

• Paul Brannan

  1 shared

• M. Preston

  Uppsala University

  1 shared