Denise Kennedy's life and medical career were filled with love and dedication to others. Her allied healthcare career began at the bedside as a patient caregiver and has since included leadership roles in operations management, quality and process improvement, business development, services management/marketing, and concluding as a university professor.

She held a graduate respiratory therapist degree from Northwestern University Medical School and a master's degree in business administration from Northern Illinois University.

Most recently she was clinical professor in the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University, where she taught both graduate and undergraduate classes and directed the Graduate Capstone program. She was loved by her students and instrumental in helping them launch many highly successful careers.

Prior to that she was assistant professor of Healthcare Systems Engineering at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, where she served as Mayo Clinic Administrator for Patient Experience. It was in this role where she conceptualized, developed, tested and implemented a comprehensive data-driven model for improving service quality in healthcare. This model was implemented enterprise-wide at Mayo Clinic and at many other healthcare facilities around the world. Her foundation publication for this work was selected "Article of the Year" by the American College of Healthcare Executives, where she won the Edgar C. Hayhow Award for outstanding contributions to healthcare management literature. This article was also selected to represent the United States in an international "best articles" in healthcare publication.

Denise is survived by her husband, Arn (Arnold Hampel), an extensive loving family and numerous dear friends.