Dr. Pendlebury received his undergraduate degree from Brown University and his medical degree from the University of Vermont in 1976. He subsequently completed his neurology residency and neuropathology fellowship at UVM and UVM Medical Center. Dr. Pendlebury was appointed to the faculty of UVM Larner College of Medicine (LCOM) in 1984. Positions at UVM Medical Center have included the Director of Neuropathology (1986-2018), and he recently retired as the Medical Director of the Memory Program, which he founded in 1991. He previously served as the Medical Director of Elder Care Services (2002-2008). From 2008-2017, Dr. Pendlebury was the Director of the Center on Aging at UVM.

His research for the past 40 years has been focused on basic and clinical aspects of Alzheimer’s disease, including pharmacologic treatment strategies. He is the author or co-author of over 150 manuscripts, abstracts, and edited book chapters, and he has presented many other research papers at national and international meetings. Dr. Pendlebury has been an invited speaker at local, regional, national and international symposia on more than 200 occasions. He has been the recipient of research grants from the National Institute on Aging, Muscular Dystrophy Association, private foundations, and pharmaceutical research divisions.

Dr. Pendlebury has received several awards and distinctions including his undergraduate degree with honors, election to Alpha Omega Alpha, election to Sigma Xi, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Officer Award, and the Basic Science Teacher of the Year Award at the UVM LCOM (runner up on two other occasions). From 1994-1999, he was the Ernest Hiram Buttles Endowed Professor, a chair honoring a commitment to, and excellence in, the teaching of pathology. In 2006, Dr. Pendlebury received the Distinguished Academic Achievement Award from the Alumni Association, LCOM; and in 2012 the Community Leadership and Activist Award from the Alzheimer’s Association. In 2013, Dr. Pendlebury received the UVM Medical Group Excellence in Continuing Medical Education Award. He is also a recipient of the Founders Award from the Vermont State Medical Society.

Dr. Pendlebury previously served as a member of the Governor’s Commission on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders. He has lectured widely at colleges and universities throughout the United States on the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Pendlebury is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Association of Neuropathologists, the American Academy of Neurology, and the American Neurological Association. He served as president of the Northern New England Neurological Society. He previously was the consulting neuropathologist for Eastern Maine Medical Center, Bangor, and Maine Medical Center, Portland.

Dr. Pendlebury has provided service to the Larner College of Medicine as a member of college committees, including Admissions, Advancement, Student Fitness, and Faculty Standards (chair for 8 years). He was one of four faculty members appointed to a task force to develop the framework of the current Vermont Integrated Curriculum and served as Course Director for one of its initial course offerings. He is also a member of the UVM Foundation Leadership Council.

Dr. Pendlebury, together with his wife Dr. Mary Cushman, Class of ’89, has provided support to the UVM/UVM Medical Center Foundation to fund the student fellowship program in the Department of Pathology, and to create a fund to support the ongoing needs of the Memory Program. Perhaps his most proud achievement was to be a principal in the awarding of a 5-million-dollar gift to UVM to endow its Center on Aging.