Tabby Kennedy, MD has been appointed to a five-year term as the Joseph F. Sackett Professor of Radiology, starting July 1. This selection reflects Dr. Kennedy’s exceptional record of service both within the Department and on the national stage.
Dr. Kennedy currently serves as a Professor (CHS) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and she was hired in 2010. She has been the Neuroradiology Section Chief since 2019 and is the Vice Chair of Communications in the department.
At the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, Dr. Kennedy is known as an exemplary academic radiologist who values patient care and sets the standard for excellence in Head and Neck Radiology and Neuroimaging. She has co-authored an impressive number of publications in her time as a faculty member here on topics ranging from ACR Appropriateness Criteria to radiology workflows to educational approaches to teaching the complex anatomy of head and neck.
While Dr. Kennedy is certainly a leader in the clinical realm, her contributions to medical education are even more remarkable. Dr. Kennedy has been selected by trainees for honors such as Radiology Department Medical Student Teacher of the Year (2019) and the Wisconsin Medical Alumni Association Distinguished Clinical Science Teaching Award (2017, 2021). These student-elected honors demonstrate her ability to create meaningful and engaging learning opportunities that trainees value highly. She has also been singled out by her peers with distinctions like the Dean’s Teaching Award in 2015.
Dr. Kennedy has been invited to speak at numerous society meetings on head and neck disease processes and educational scholarship. In 2017, Dr. Kennedy chaired the ASNR Fellowship Directors Committee, where she participated in the process of revising ACGME Neuroradiology fellowship requirements.
Dr. Kennedy is both a mentor and a role model to trainees. Dr. Kennedy received the ASNR/ACT/AAWR Women in Neuroradiology Leadership Award in 2020 and the UWSMPH Group on Women in Medicine and Science Impact Award in 2022. Her success in a historically male-dominated field is a beacon to the next generation of radiologists.
Dr. Kennedy is the first woman in an endowed professorship within the Department of Radiology. Not only did the former (and first) Sackett Professor, Dr. Howard Rowley, support her career as a mentor, but Dr. Sackett, the professorship’s namesake, has reached out over the years to congratulate Dr. Kennedy on her achievements.
We look forward to seeing Dr. Kennedy in this role and congratulate her on the achievement!