On February 25, 2025, Dr. Paul Wehman received the 2025 National Distinguished Career Award from the Association for Rehabilitation Research, Policy and Education in Savannah, Georgia. 

Paul Wehman, Ph.D., has been a tenured faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University since 1976. He is currently the Interim Director of the VCU Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (Director 1983-2023; Interim Director 2024-present). Originally with the VCU School of Education, he moved to a joint appointment with SOE and the School of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and has now returned as the Interim Director of the VCU-RRTC. His highly interdisciplinary background and pioneering work in the beginning of supported employment have facilitated millions of persons with neurodevelopmental disabilities, brain injury, and spinal cord injury all over the world to gain and retain competitive employment. 

He has written extensively on issues related to transition from school to adulthood and special education as it relates to young adulthood and employment and is founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation. Dr. Wehman has received numerous awards and has been the Principal Investigator on more than $90 million in federal and state grants since joining VCU.