Henry Ansgar Kelly (born Fort Dodge, Iowa, June 6, 1934) is distinguished research professor of English at the University of California, Los Angeles.
In the Festschrift published in his honor when he stepped down from the latter position in 2003, his scholarly career was summed up thus: "Henry Ansgar (Andy) Kelly’s prolific scholarship ranges over a wide variety of topics: medieval and renaissance literature and history (in English, Latin, Spanish, French, and Italian, from Aristotle to Shakespeare—and Seamus Heaney), ecclesiastical history and theology, demonology, canon law and Church ritual, lay piety, drama, lexicology, philology, and contemporary academic and national politics.
The citation in the latter reads: "'Andy' Kelly, Distinguished Research Professor of English, retired in 2004 and his contributions to UCLA and to scholarship since that time have been impressive.
His scholarly contributions since retirement include 6 books and 37 papers on a wide range of topics: literature (Chaucer); Roman and Canon Law; History (inquisitions and other ecclesiastical trials; torture; Galileo); Theology (exorcism; heresies); and Biblical Studies (textual investigations; English Bible).
Andy’s 'service' has been two major contributions to the scholarship of the Middle Ages: returning to the editorship the journal Viator: Medieval and Renaissance Studies in 2003.
Viator, published by the UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, has an international profile for its scholarship and two generations of graduate assistants have profited from working on it.