A mentor to women and minorities in medicine, Alexa Canady is a symbol of quiet excellence in a field that has often shut the door on people who look like her.

When Canady first walked into the Children’s Hospital of Michigan in her white coat, she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders as one of the first black women to do so.

Little did she know, by 1981 she would hold the honor of being the first Black female neurosurgeon in the US – an achievement so rare it barely even seemed real to her.

Canady is the daughter of a Lansing dentist and educator.

She always knew education was important to her parents, but she remembers feeling undervalued in classrooms where she was one of the only black students.

Back then, one of the only things that got her by was her steadfast belief that anything was possible.

After graduating high school, she initially majored in zoology at the University of Michigan, at first unsure of her future career path.

It wasn’t until her medical school rotations that she found her way to neurosurgery.

The specialty was brutal, competitive, and almost exclusively male – but something about it called to her.

She then got a residency at the University of Minnesota during a time when most of her colleagues doubted a black woman could make it in the field, proving them wrong with discipline, long hours, and quiet determination.

In 1981 Canady joined the neurosurgery staff at Children’s Hospital of Michigan.

Ten years later she became chief of neurosurgery – the first African American woman in the country to do so.

There, she practiced pediatric neurosurgery involving brain tumors, spinal abnormalities, and traumatic injuries in children.

Family members recall her not only as an operating room specialist but also as a beloved bedside person.

She was known to get eye level with children, she described procedures clearly, and she never let her fancy job title get in the way of her being human.

It was because of all of this that her notoriety quickly spread, with parents asking for her by name, students wanting to train under her, and colleagues noting her fine balance between precision and compassion.

By default, Canady was a role model.

She was seen by young women in medicine as an example that gender should not define career paths.

Black medical students saw her success as opening a door in a field that once shut them out.

In response, she encouraged and mentored them, teaching them that the path was hard but far from impossible.

Her message was simple: Excellence will open doors that prejudice would like to keep closed.

She trained dozens of residents and inspired thousands before she retired from the Children’s Hospital in 2001.

From there, Canady left Detroit and practiced in Florida, but she made a lasting mark in Michigan all the same.

After thousands of surgeries performed in the mitten, she proved that being the first is sometimes just the beginning.

Today, she is etched into American medical history – but in Detroit, her memory is strongest among the hospital corridors where scared families once flocked to receive her comfort.

In short, Dr. Alexa Canady never intended to make history.

Her only goal was to be a good doctor…yet by doing so, she became a pioneer, a prime example of black excellence, and a protector of children.

She isn’t just the first Black neurosurgeon.

She’s a healer whose hands and courage forever changed what modern medicine looks like.

Victoria Jackson (Editor In Chief)

Victoria Jackson is a lifelong student and sharp-eyed documentarian of all things Detroit, from its rich musical roots and cultural icons to its shifting neighborhoods, storied architecture, and underground legends. With her finger firmly on the pulse of both the city’s vibrant past and its rapidly unfolding future, she brings a deeply personal, historically grounded lens to every piece she writes.

Published on: August 27, 2025