Jay Kennedy is one of four people who were recently elected by the Drum Corps International Hall of Fame Committee for induction into the DCI Hall of Fame for 2007. From the time he was a member of the Racine Kilties, to life now as an administrator at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, Jay Kennedy has been a champion of education for those within and outside of the drum corps community. And promoting music education is all in a day's work for an individual who holds a doctorate of philosophy in higher education administration from Boston College, as well as bachelor's and master's degrees in music education from Northwestern University. When Kennedy started in the ranks of the Drum Corps International judging community, he quickly became well-respected, and rapidly became a fixture at many high-profile DCI events. While serving as the percussion caption chairman before being named the DCI Judge Administrator in 1988, he had the opportunity to judge corps in more than 10 World Championships.

Jay Kennedy
Jim Mallen, a fellow DCI percussion judge during this period said: "I was continually impressed with Jay's perceptive analysis and solutions to problems, and the intelligent way he would recommend these resolutions to the DCI administrators." In his drum corps adjudication roles, Kennedy spearheaded several educational initiatives to establish a more formalized process for judge education and training. He also worked to institute annual meetings among judges, instructors and corps directors for the mutual welfare and advancement of the drum corps educational process. "It was these types of opportunities that helped us to establish an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect between judge and instructor," said current DCI Judge Administrator John Phillips. Today, Kennedy holds an impressive list of accomplishments to his credit. Currently serving as the Assistant Vice President for Experiential Programs and Institutional Assessment at Berklee, Kennedy also has composed and arranged for hundreds of television and radio commercials, episodic television programs, movies, concert ensembles and musical theatre. "Jay is known among his peers as a musician's musician. There is no one in the world of bands and drum corps who does not respect Jay's knowledge of music," said DCI Hall of Fame member George Oliviero. "It is clear from the support of his university peers that the understanding and recognition of his work goes beyond our activity." Since 2002, Kennedy has worked with the Boston Crusaders as music arranger, while leaving his indelible educational impression among the corps' members and instructional staff. He currently resides in Massachusetts with his wife Laura and their three children.