R. Keeth Matheny, AKA “Coach Rudy,” is a national award-winning teacher, author, and speaker. In addition, he was a member of the Aspen Institute’s Social Emotional Academic Development (SEAD) Council of Distinguished Educators and supported the creation of their “A Nation at Hope” report. Keeth is a passionate and dedicated former classroom teacher with over 25 years of experience. He created and taught an innovative freshman SEL seminar which was featured in an article in The Atlantic, and has now spread to many more schools and districts.

The results he saw in his classroom and in the lives of his students ignited a passion for sharing about educating the whole child which resulted in hundreds of people coming to visit his classroom and in turn asking him to help start social emotional and academic development (SEAD) programs at their own schools. To respond to these requests and to continue learning himself, Keeth decided to create SEL Launchpad, an organization that provides engaging, inspiring, and actionable professional learning to help launch and support SEAD programs.

Keeth/Coach Rudy is very active in creating activities and lesson plans that support prosocial, proactive mental health behaviors,  academic skill acquisition and application for students.  A great example of his work can be found in the curriculum, School-Connect, of which Keeth is co-author. School-Connect is a research and evidence-based social and emotional learning curriculum used in over 3,000 secondary schools. He is also a frequent keynote speaker on SEAD, emotional intelligence, and multi-tiered systems of student support. In addition, Keeth wrote a well-received book, ExSELent Teaching, which is designed to help make social emotional and academic supports a part of every classroom’s routines and culture. 

Like all of us, Keeth found himself at home in March 2020 with the onset of COVID. His desire to support students with at-home learning and with their well-being manifested in a series of free SEL video lessons for remote teachers to use during spring school closures. These videos had over 100,000 users from more than a dozen countries. Luckily, his son, who is a filmmaker, was home from college to help make this happen!

Keeth lives in Austin,Texas with his wife of 25 yrs and is the father of two children. He loves sunsets, music, spending time with family and friends, and hearing from his former students.