Mary Kennard is the vice president, general counsel, and secretary of the Board of Trustees for American University. Ms. Kennard has served as a senior administrator at both public and private colleges and universities. In addition, Ms. Kennard has served as the chief development officer for both the University of Rhode Island and American University, and has been an instructor at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Rhode Island, and the Washington College of Law at American University. Ms. Kennard is a frequent lecturer at national conferences on law and higher education administration, and co-anchored and produced a Telly Award winning video training tape in conjunction with the College and University Personnel Association (CUPA-HR).

Ms. Kennard is the 2008-2009 president of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) with over 3000 attorney members nationally. She was the 2007 president of the Washington Metropolitan Area Corporate Counsel Association (WMACCA), the largest chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel (the in-house corporate bar association) with over 1600 attorney members in the D.C. metro chapter. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Corporate Counsel.

In April 2011, she received the North Star award from the Washington College of Law at American University. In May 2009, she was honored by Boston University with its Alumni Distinguished Service award. In May 2008, Ms. Kennard received the Lawyer of the Year award from the Women's Bar Association of Washington, D.C. In September 2007, she was recognized as a "Top Washington Lawyer" by the Washington Business Journal. She is also a past award recipient of the "Stars of the Bar" by the Women's Bar Association of Washington, D.C. 

Ms. Kennard attended Boston University and received her undergraduate degree in applied science. After earning her Juris Doctorate from Temple University, Beasley School of Law in 1980, and Master of Laws in international and comparative law from The George Washington University, National Law Center, she served as counsel to the University of Pittsburgh, Howard University, the University of Rhode Island, the Community College of Rhode Island, and Rhode Island College, before joining American University in 1995.