He received his Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1972. His research specialization is the art history and archaeology of West Africa, and his field research in Ghana was sponsored by the Ford Foundation and U S Government grants. His duties at Notre Dame, in addition to teaching and research, have included directing the African studies program, chairing the Department of Anthropology, and establishing an archaeological field school at the University of Notre Dame. During the summer of 2001, students of the field school joined Notre Dame archaeologists for fieldwork in Indiana, California, Israel, and Jordan. Bellis was honored with the University of Notre Dame's Father Charles E. Sheedy Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1986 and the Kaneb Teaching Award in 1998.