In addition to his work with the Department of Special Education and Disability Policy, Dr. Paul Wehman holds a joint appointment as a professor in VCU’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and serves as director of both the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employment for People with Physical Disabilities and the VCU Autism Center for Excellence.

Wehman pioneered the development of supported employment at VCU in the early 1980s and, throughout his career, has been heavily involved in the use of supported employment for people who have severe disabilities, such as those with brain injuries, spinal cord injuries or autism.

He has researched, written, instructed and presented extensively on issues related to the transition from school to adulthood for those with disabilities, as well as on special education and young adulthood. He has published more than 200 articles, 115 book chapters and authored or edited 43 books.

In addition to numerous other professional awards, Wehman was recognized as one of the 50 most influential special educators of the millennium in a national survey coordinated by the Remedial and Special Education journal in December 2000.

In February 2015, Wehman and his co-authors received the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association Research Award for their article, “Effect of Supported Employment on Vocational Rehabilitation Outcomes of Transition-Age Youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: A Case Control Study,” published in the American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Wehman is the founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation and has been the principal investigator of more than $70 million worth of federal grants during his career at VCU.