In 1981, Dr. Alexa Irene Canady made history and then continued. That year, she became the first African American woman in the United States to become a neurosurgeon.
That achievement shattered both racial and gender barriers in one of the most demanding medical fields. But for Dr. Canady, history-making was only the beginning.
Born on Nov. 7, 1950, in Lansing, Michigan, Dr. Canady was raised in a home that promoted education and determination.
Her father was a dentist, and her mother an educator who instilled in her the value of intellectual curiosity and persistence.
These lessons would carry Canady through a career marked by both groundbreaking achievement and unflinching dedication to patient care.
Initially, a zoology major at the University of Michigan, it was a summer program for minority students interested in health careers that turned her attention to medicine.
Despite skepticism from some advisors, she pursued neurosurgery—a field notoriously unwelcoming to women, especially women of color.
After graduating cum laude from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1975, Dr. Canady interned at Yale-New Haven Hospital, then completed her neurosurgical residency at the University of Minnesota. In 1981, she officially became the first Black female neurosurgeon in the country.
Not content to rest on that singular accomplishment, Dr. Canady specialized in pediatric neurosurgery, bringing her skills to the Children’s Hospital of Michigan, where she became chief of neurosurgery in 1987.
During her tenure, she transformed the department into one of the most respected in the nation.
“She’s a Black woman and a neurosurgeon, so she must know what she’s doing,” she once recalled patients’ parents saying.
Their instincts were right—her reputation for surgical excellence and compassionate care was unmatched.
Among her many contributions to medicine, Dr. Canady co-invented a programmable antisiphon shunt, a device to treat hydrocephalus—an abnormal buildup of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain—thereby improving the lives of countless children.
Certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery in 1984, she was also a professor of neurosurgery at Wayne State University, where she continued to shape the future of medicine through teaching and research.
Even after retiring in 2001, Dr. Canady returned to practice part-time at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Florida, when she learned there were no pediatric neurosurgeons in the area.
Over her storied career, Dr. Canady received numerous honors, including induction into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame and the American Medical Women’s Association President’s Award.
But her greatest legacy may be the doors she opened for others.
Dr. Alexa Canady didn’t just make history—she changed it. Her life’s work continues to inspire future generations to believe that no barrier is too great when met with brilliance and purpose.
