A professor in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs has died from melanoma .

William Kelleher, 63, an associate professor of anthropology at Syracuse University for the last eight years, died on Wednesday, according to his obituary on The Post-Standard.

As a professor at SU, Kelleher’s researched focused on labor and class relations and long-term effects of political violence. He also specialized in colonialism and post-colonialism, according to a Maxwell School release.

Kelleher worked a cultural anthropologist on several issues dealing with Ireland. He was also affiliated with the European Union Center in the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, according to the release.

Kelleher was recently working on a project that examined the relationship between Irish nationalists and the Republic of Ireland. He was researching the political violence between the two groups, and how both victims and assailants tried to re-enter a civil society of peace and order, according to the release.

Prior to working at SU, Kelleher worked at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, according to the release. In 2002, he co-founded the Ethnography of the University project, which had undergraduate students at the school researching the institutions surrounding them, according to the release. Today, more than 140 Ethnography of the University courses are taught on six different campuses, including at SU, according to the initiative’s website.

Kelleher also served on the board of the Syracuse Model neighborhood Facility and also helped released inmates transition back to civilian life after prison. He was also a member of the parish council at St. Lucy’s church, according to the release.

Kelleher’s obituary requested that in lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory be made to the department of anthropology at SU, to support student projects.

Published on September 20, 2013 at 12:38 pm

Contact Natsumi: najisaka@syr.edu