​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Visiting Scholar

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.

Before her presidency, Hildenbrand most recently served AOTA as a Director of the Board of Directors, with earlier appointments to the Presidential Ad Hoc Committee on Health Care Reform and Presidential Ad Hoc Committee on Prevention and Wellness. Hildenbrand served as the Speaker of AOTA's Representative Assembly as well as the Kansas Representative to the Representative Assembly, and she served as Vice-Chair of AOTA's Committee of State Association Presidents Steering Committee. In 2005, Hildenbrand was selected to join the AOTA Roster of Fellows, specifically in recognition of her responsive leadership and promotion of the profession.

Outside of AOTA, she is an active member and leader within the Kansas Occupational Therapy Association (KOTA) as evidenced by her leadership as President of KOTA for 5 years and additional elected and appointed volunteer positions over time. She was awarded the Volunteer of the Year award and the Occupational Therapist of the Year award by the Kansas Occupational Therapy Association.​