Biography
Dr. Keeley was born and raised in Tucson, AZ ; she comes from a large Irish American family filled with civil servants (police officers, fire fighters, and nurses) and believes that her work as a Professor (scholar and teacher) has the same service goal as those distinguished professions: to help others and to improve lives. She is happily married and they have a son and a daughter. Dr. Keeley earned her PhD in 1994 from the University of Iowa, Her MA from the University of Arizona in 1987, and her BA from the University of Arizona in 1983 (All in field of Communication Studies)
Research Interests
Dr. Keeley is considered one of the leading experts in the area family communication at the end of life. Her focus for over two decades has been to explore "Final Conversations" (i.e., all verbal and nonverbal messages from the time of a terminal diagnosis until the moment of death) from the family members and close friends' perspective. Her new co-authored book “The Good Goodbye” will be published in June 2025. It explores the “transformative power of conversation at the end of life.”
Teaching Interests
Nonverbal Communication, Family Communication, Relational Communication, Interpersonal Communication (at both the Graduate and Undergraduate levels). She also teaches a graduate seminar on End of Life Communication at the Graduate Level