Kellner, Bruce

Bruce Kellner, scholar and author of works on Carl Van Vechten and the Harlem Renaissance; professor of English at Coe College, 1956-1960.

Bruce Kellner was born in Indianapolis, Ind., in 1930. A few years after his birth, the family relocated to Kentucky, where he attended public schools in Louisville and St. Mathews. In 1944, the Kellner family moved to Anchorage, Alaska, and, the following year, to Kansas City, Miss. He graduated from Kansas City's Southwest High School in 1948 and became a student at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. In 1951, Kellner joined the United States Navy and served three years. He returned to Colorado College in 1954 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1955. Later that same year he enrolled in graduate school at the University of Iowa, receiving a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1958. He taught at Coe College in Cedar Falls, Iowa, from 1956 to 1960 and at Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y. from 1960-1969. Dr. Kellner became a professor of English at Millersville University in 1969 and remained until his retirement in 1991. He authored numerous books and articles on literature, art, and the theater, including a biography of Carl Van Vechten.