John Francis Kelly (September 6, 1949 – September 16, 2018) was an American politician and academic who served four consecutive terms as a state senator from Michigan. He ran for the U.S. House of Representatives twice and was a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1994. Kelly taught at the university level for more than 30 years at such venerable institutions as Wayne State University, the University of Detroit, and Oakland University. Among other roles, he was a professor of security studies and a scholar in residence at the National Defense University, and a consultant to the United States Water Partnership established by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2012. He also served as co-chair of the United States Institute of Peace Niger River Task Force, examining water security questions a