Dr. Marian Kennedy is an associate professor within the Clemson University Department of Materials Science and Engineering.  She is dedicated to providing high quality and impactful educational and research experiences for early career scientists and engineers.  To achieve this, she has built an experimental laboratory in which her students study the evolution of plastic deformation that occurs in metal when subjected to either sliding or normal loading.  Together, Dr. Kennedy and her students work to understand how the structure of these metals influences their performance in extreme environments and disseminate their work in jointly authored journal publications.

As an engineering education researcher, Dr. Kennedy has initiated and collaborated on projects related to discipline specific self-efficacy, research identity and influence of undergraduate research program participation. She has also contributed to lowering barriers for transfer students into engineering programs and providing instructor fellowships for doctoral candidates.

Her favorite part of being an academic is working on problems at the intersection of disciplines. She continues to partner with researchers in complimentary fields, such as bioengineering, to jointly explore the responses of natural materials including spider silk and enamel.