Cowell Faculty

Biography, Education and Training

At UC Santa Cruz she teaches a popular course on Personal Finance and Investing. In 2019, she received a grant from the University of California to produce an online version of the class for UC Systemwide. She also serves on the investment committees the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County and York School.

Ms. Kelly's professional career was spent in the financial industry, beginning as an investment banking analyst on Wall Street in the 1980's, to a partnership at a Palo Alto based investment management firm responsible for managing $2.5 billion for institutional clients, including the Vanguard Equity Income Fund. Switching gears in 1999, Ms. Kelly moved to Aptos, California to work with her (ex-) husband running a strawberry grower/shipper operation.

Ms. Kelly earned an MBA at Harvard Business School and holds a BA in Economics from U.C. Santa Cruz. She also completed Stanford Business School’s Executive Education program in sustainability.

Patricia Kelly serves on the Investment Committee of the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County. She served as President of the Harvard Business School Association of Northern California in 2019-20. In January 2014, Ms. Kelly was recognized by the Harvard Business School Association of Northern California as one of the top business and community leaders of the Bay Area in commemoration of celebrating 50 years of women at Harvard Business School.