He was also a member of the former Waiariki Institute of Technology's management team and served as the institute's kaumatua for almost 15 years.
He holds an honorary doctorate in philosophy and was educated at Whangamarino School and Rotorua Boys' High School.
"I have to pay my respects to Te Uru O Te Whetu Whata, who was the original representative of our elders.
"It was a great honour for me to be nominated by the koeke who consist of a forum of kaumatua and kuia of Te Arawa and who are the guardians of all our marae in Te Arawa, so it is a very special role to me.
"I am there as the mouthpiece for our kaumatua and kuia and not everybody can do the job."
He said it would be an overarching role and as he knew most of the board members personally he was looking forward to working with them.
"My vision of the board is to be a model all councils in New Zealand can follow and show how councils can work confidently with all iwi around the country.
"It's about how can communities and councils work with the tangata whenua of the land to make our communities a better place for everyone.
"It's not about iwi dictating to everyone, it's about how we can work more closely together."
Te Tatau board chairman Te Taru White said under the trust deed the board could appoint a new representative without holding a by-election after Dr Kennedy was nominated by the pukenga koeke to replace Mr Whata.
The next board election will be held alongside the council election about October 2019.
Mr White welcomed Dr Kennedy's appointment saying he would be part of a team of 14 members with wide-ranging skill sets.
"He brings life experience in matters of tikanga and kawa and his management experience from his time at Waiariki.
"We work on decisions by consensus and everyone will have their say.
"The next three years are critical for us as the first full term as Te Tatau and we are finishing our strategic planning to set that direction for us.
"We all look forward to working with him as part of the team," Mr White said.
Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick said it was sad to lose Mr Whata, but welcomed Dr Kennedy's appointment.
"He'll bring additional skills, connections and wisdom on kawa and tikanga, which is very important.
"It ensures Te Tatau o Te Arawa has that complete diversity of skills and interweaving of strengths they need to be able to provide a well-rounded perspective that I believe is proving very valuable to council and to Rotorua."
