Mary R. T. Kennedy

Mary R. T. Kennedy, PhD, CCC-SLP, F-ASHA, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Chapman University, Orange, California. She is Board Certified by the Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences (ANCDS) and as a certified speech-language pathologist. She has worked with individuals with acquired brain injury for many years.

Dr. Kennedy’s research and clinical focus is in managing adult cognitive and language disorders after traumatic brain injury (TBI). She is nationally and internationally recognized as an expert in the metacognition, self-regulation, and executive function disorders commonly associated with this unique population. She served on the Institute of Medicine writing committee that reviewed the scientific evidence in cognitive rehabilitation and chaired the ANCDS TBI Evidence-Based Practice Writing committee for 14 years, including 13 publications.

Dr. Kennedy has authored over 60 publications including, peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, technical reports, and a book titled Coaching College Students with Executive Dysfunction: A Dynamic Approach by Guilford Publishing. Her recent research documents the common challenges that college students with TBI face and validates the usefulness of coaching, which explicitly instructs students in self-regulation so as to support executive functions.

Dr. Kennedy has been associate editor and guest editor for peer-reviewed journals on topics related to TBI. She has presented widely on cognitive rehabilitation after brain injury and published one of the first meta-analyses on the effectiveness of therapy aimed at remediating executive dysfunction. She is an American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Fellow and is the recipient of the Honors of the ANCDS.