Kelly Buttermore

Kelly Buttermore is the Director of Mellon Mays Operations. In this role Kelly leads the administration of the Mellon Mays Graduate Programs, partnering closely with staff at The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in this effort.

Prior to assuming this position, Kelly worked in a variety of roles at ACLS, most recently as chief of staff where she served as a strategic thought partner, translating ACLS’s goals and priorities into tangible activities, workflows, and timelines. Prior to that she was the grants officer and budget analyst, where she oversaw the Council’s $30 million+ portfolio of foundation grants and managed proposal, reporting, and post-award processes such as budget modifications, rollovers, and no-cost extensions.

She remains especially proud of her work with ACLS’s subsidiary, the Center for Educational Exchange with Vietnam (CEEVN) from 2010 to the program’s conclusion in 2020 and helped to shepherd The Excellent Bridge: The Journey of the ACLS Center for Educational Exchange with Vietnam to publication in 2020. She also values her ongoing work with colleagues at the University of Cambridge on the Darwin Correspondence Project.

Kelly joined the ACLS staff in 2003. She received a BA in history from Mount Holyoke College. When not at 633 Third Avenue, she can be found performing and teaching improvisational comedy in New York and around the country as one-half of the comedy duo From Justin to Kelly.