CLARENCE was born on October 24, 1911 in Kansas City, Missouri. He graduated from Northeast High School in 1928. He was
awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree fro the University of Missouri in Kansas City in 1936. He was admitted to the Missouri Bar
in 1940.
On October 7 he became a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Invetigation. He was in the Huntington, West Virginia
office, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania office, the FBI Training Center, Quantico as a firearms instructor and in the Des Moines,
Iowa office.
He servied in the UnitedStates Navy from July 22, 1944 to April 19, 1946 and then resumed his career with the FBI by
serving in the Kanss City, Missouri office. He was then assigned supervisory duties at the FBI Headquartrs in Washington,
D. C. and then went back to Kansas City as a Field Supervisor.
He was Assistant Special Agent in Charge at the Houston, Texas office in July 1953. He was sent to the Seattle, Washington
office in the same capacity in July 1955. He then went to the San Francisco, California office still in the same capacity.
He was then transferred to the Training and Inspection Headquarters and was designated as an Inspector.
He became Special Agent in Charge of the Birmingham, Alabama office in December 1957. He was reassigned to the Memphis,
Tennessee office in the same capacity in November of 1960. He served there until his retirement from the FBI on October 24,
1961.
He became the Kansas City, Missouri Chief of Police. He was also on the Board of Directors of the Boys' Club and the
United Fund. He was a member of the Society of Former Special Agents, the Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Intrnational.
He was a member of the Executive Committee of the International Assoication of Chiefs of Police and was a membe of the Missouri
Peace Officers Association.
He received the J. Edgar Hoover Gold Medal for Outstanding Job Service, presented by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. In
1971 he was named to the Presidential Advisory Committee that was headed by former FBI Director, J. E. Hoover.
In 1972 he received the Oustanding Officer of the Year Award which was presented by the Metropolitan Chiefs and Sheriff's
Association. From 1972-73 he served on the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals and on the
FBI Academy Review Committee.
President Nixon nominated Mr. Kelly as Director of the FBI on June 7, 1973. He was sworn in as the Director on July 9,
1973 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Mr. Kelly and Mr. C. Thomas DuPriest founded the Clarence M. Kelly Group of Companies. It is a private investigative
and consulting firm.
This organization sponsors the Clarence M. Kelly Meritorious Service Award. It is given to selected members of the Kansas/Missouri
Chapter of the FBI National Academy Associates. Kansas members receive it in the Spring Session and Missouri members in the
Fall Session. It was first awarded during the Fall Session in 2001.
