About Me
ABOUT JOSEPH M. PELLERITO JR., PhD, OTRL, CDI
Dr. Joseph M. Pellerito Jr. has been widely recognized for his commitment to excellence working as an administrator, researcher, professor, consultant, entrepreneur, and master clinician in the private, academic, and public sectors. He is proudly serving as the Founding Chair of the emerging Masters of Science in Occupational Therapy (MSOT) at »Ê¹Ú¶ÄÇò in Schaumburg, IL.
Dr. Pellerito earned a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Medical Sociology at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan; a Masters of Science (M.S.) in Technology in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; and a Baccalaureate of Science (B.S.) in Occupational Therapy and Minor in Sociology at Western Michigan University Lee Honors College, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
He has held key leadership positions including Associate Professor & Founding Program Director at St. Bonaventure University; Associate Professor & Chair at Brown Mackie College, Western Michigan University, & Wayne State University; Founder, CEO, and Chief Consultant at HEROES NATION lc; Vice President of Research and Consumer Technology at iCan!; & Administrator, Director, and Senior Therapist at Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan in The Detroit Medical Center.
He is the Cofounder and was the inaugural Managing Editor of The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy (OJOT) , the first-ever open-access occupational therapy refereed journal accessed by professionals living in more than 100 countries worldwide. He was elected to the Catholic Charities Diocese of Kalamazoo Board of Directors, and continues to proudly serve on the Boards for Landon Elsemere Publishing House, Sault Saint Marie, Canada, HEROES NATION lc, & Harmony Cubed lc.
A leader in his discipline, Dr. Pellerito is prolific, has been highly funded, and is a tireless advocate for people with disabilities and their families. He has expertise in online curriculum development; fundraising; grant-writing; developing and managing graduate education programs; facilitating strategic, business, and accreditation planning and implementation; program assessment; faculty development; and caregiver education and training.
His passion for development and community engagement has energized prospective and current donors resulting in record-breaking cash, planned, and in-kind gifts; improved recognition and national rankings; and broad inter-professional and organizational scholarship and impact throughout North America and globally. He has secured funding for research projects that have advanced knowledge and informed evidence-based practice in the health sciences.
Dr. Pellerito published the first edited textbook on driver rehabilitation and community mobility, other textbooks on topics important to the disability community, and scholarly and consumer oriented articles in refereed journals and online. He is frequently invited to speak throughout North America on disability related topics of consequence.
Contact: jpelleritojr@roosevelt.edu