The eldest daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, Luoluo (pronounced “lō-lō”) Hong was appointed August 2021 as the inaugural Vice President for Student Engagement & Well-Being at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she also holds a faculty affiliation as Adjunct Professor of the Practice, School of Psychology.. Luoluo has over 30 years of experience in higher education spanning seven campuses and one system. She came to the Institute from the California State University System where she served first as Vice President for Student Affairs & Enrollment Management and Title IX Coordinator at San Francisco State University (2014-2019) and then as Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs & Enrollment Management in the System Office (2019-2021).

Prior, she was Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at the University of Hawaiˈi at Hilo from 2008-2014, where she concurrently took on the role of acting Athletic Director for one and a half years. Luoluo began her career at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge as a health promotion professional (1992-2000). Other senior administrative roles have included Assistant Vice President & Dean of Students at Shepherd College (2000-2002); Dean of Students at University of Wisconsin-Madison (2002-2005); and Dean of Student Affairs at Arizona State University’s West campus (2005-2007). 

Luoluo holds a BA in Psychology from Amherst College, a Master’s in Public Health from Yale University, and a PhD in Educational Leadership & Research from LSU-Baton Rouge. Formerly a consulting editor for the Journal of American College Health (2000-2008) and recognized as a Fellow by the American College Health Association in 2006, Luoluo is faculty coordinator for the American College Personnel Association’s Aspiring SSAO Institute and a member of the Women’s Network Executive Council for the American Council on Education. She completed a term as chair for the Pacific West Athletic Conference from 2011-2013. For more info: https://students.gatech.edu/content/about-vice-president-hong.

Dr. Kennedy serves as the Assistant Vice President for Student Health and Wellbeing at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  There she provides administrative leadership to five departments:  Student Health Services, Student Counseling Services, Wellness Promotion, Veteran’s Services and University Recreation and holds a faculty appointment in Psychology. 

In addition to multiple leadership roles at UAB she is the co-chair of the International Health Promoting Campuses Network and was the inaugural chair for the US Health Promoting Campuses Network.  She is also the co-author of a chapter entitled, “Well-being in Higher Education: Evidence- and Policy-based Strategies to Enhance the Well-being of People, Place and Planet” that was published in early 2023 and the December 2024 article, “The Okanagan Charter to improve wellbeing in higher education:  shifting the paradigm in Frontiers in Education.” Dr. Kennedy is an expert in the application of settings-based health promotion on college campuses and frequently provides training to colleges and universities across the country.  Most recently she was last year’s keynote speaker at the University of Illinois System Annual Multi-university Mental Health and Wellbeing Symposium,  provided a nine-hour training to higher education professionals across Iowa as part of the faculty for the Iowa Best Mental Health Summit, and most recently consulted and trained senior academic officers and staff at the University of Connecticut on how to embed health into everything they do.

Prior to UAB she served at the University of West Florida from 1999 until 2018, including for nearly five years as the AVP and Director, Counseling and Psychological Services.  She holds a PhD in Counseling Psychology from State University of New York at Buffalo and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from George Mason University. 

She is deeply devoted to help create a better world for those who are here today and for those who have yet to come.  As a licensed psychologist and EMDR therapist, in addition to thousands of clinical hours treating college students, she managed a part-time private practice for over ten years.  There she provided treatment to US veterans and dependents, specializing in depression, anxiety and complex post-traumatic stress disorder.  In her current work she aspires to collaborate with others on her campus, in our country, and around the globe to transform the health and sustainability of our current and future societies and contribute to the wellbeing of people, places and the planet.