Dr. Joshua Alexander, MD, will retire as chair of the UNC Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. His last day as chair will be July 1, 2026.
After more than 30 years of service at UNC-Chapel Hill, Dr. Joshua Alexander, MD, will retire as chair of the UNC Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R). His last day as chair will be July 1, 2026. He will continue to see patients and focus on other work for a short period and will fully retire soon after.
In addition to his work as department chair, Dr. Alexander currently serves as Sidna Chockley Rizzo Distinguished Professor, medical director for the UNC Center for Rehabilitation Care, and director of pediatric rehabilitation for UNC Children’s.
During his time as chair, Dr. Alexander oversaw an impressive amount of growth in the PM&R department as its number of faculty doubled and its residency program grew by a third. He was part of the multidisciplinary planning team that helped design the new state-of-the-art acute inpatient rehabilitation units at UNC Hospitals’ Hillsborough Campus that have repeatedly garnered recognition from U.S. News & World Report. During his time as chair, the department’s research faculty tripled in size and was ranked in the top 20 in NIH funding nearly every year. Dr. Alexander also successfully led his department through a challenging pandemic and fostered a strong departmental culture of personal wellness and mutual support.
Outside his administrative duties, Dr. Alexander has been an innovative national thought leader in the field of telemedicine, starting a statewide telehealth program for children with disabilities in 1998 and helping to establish the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Section on Telehealth Care. His clinical focus has been the rehabilitation and care of children with disabilities, especially those with cerebral palsy and spina bifida. He earned his MD from Temple University and completed a combined residency in PM&R and Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Alexander on this important milestone.