Wendy C. Hildenbrand PhD, MPH, OTR/L, FAOTA

Wendy Hildenbrand is President of AOTA and a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Occupational Therapy Education Department at the University of Kansas Medical Center. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy in 1989, a Master of Public Health in 2002, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Public Administration in 2016 all from the University of Kansas.

Hildenbrand’s practice experience includes work in mental health settings for more than a decade, school-based practice, and population and community health contexts. Her professional expertise includes leadership development, professional formation, policy development and implementation, advocacy, public health, and building bridges between policy and practice. Her most recent research examines the experience of role conflict in frontline occupational therapy professionals when implementing policies (such as productivity requirements) and working to maintain professional values (such as client-centered care). She identifies her most rewarding academic–community partnership as her 14-year commitment as co-director and faculty advisor for the Community Health Project, a community-based and interprofessional experience designed to enhance the educational and future practice experience of health professions students by immersing them in a public health or social service settings.