Mike Kennedy has over 32 years of experience in the fire service and has served as the Fire Chief for the City of Ann Arbor since 2018. He is a Center for Public Safety Excellence - Chief Officer, a graduate of Naval Postgraduate School's Center for Homeland Defense and Security Executive Leaders Program, an undergraduate from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a Master of Public Administration from Eastern Michigan University. He is the recent past-President of the Southeast Michigan Association Fire Chiefs.

Chief Kennedy has authored numerous articles for Fire Engineering and lectures frequently on large event planning based on experiences with Michigan Stadium (the fourth-largest stadium in the world) and the Ann Arbor Art Fair (the largest juried art fair in the United States).