David A Margolis, MD

David A. Margolis, MD, hematologist and oncologist, was named the Pediatrician in Chief for Children’s Wisconsin in January 2020, but has been a part of our campus community since 1989. In addition to his role with Children’s, Dr. Margolis is chair of Pediatrics for the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Dr. Margolis’ remains a passionate expert in caring for children with cancer and blood disorders. Under the training of former mentors, Dr. Margolis has provided the clinical foundation for the Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Programs at Children’s Wisconsin to be known worldwide for its outstanding care provided to children who need alternative donor transplants for cancer and aplastic anemia.

Dr. Margolis is a member of several committees and boards, including the Medical Advisory Board of the Make a Wish Foundation, the Medical Advisory Board for the Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation and the Children’s Wisconsin Foundation Board.

In addition to his medical expertise, board and committee leadership, Dr. Margolis is well known for his passion for allowing all kids to be kids, especially when children are impacted by an illness such as cancer. Over the years, Dr. Margolis has made it a point to allow kids to have fun in the hospital by having squirt gun fights, throwing snowballs and allowing kids to spray paint his hair green in honor of his beloved Milwaukee Bucks during the playoff season.

His passion for letting kids be kids, patient care and philanthropy has been recognized in the Milwaukee community over a number of years. In 1998, he was recognized by the Milwaukee Business Journal as a 40 Under 40 recipient and was inducted into the 40 under 40 Hall of Fame in 2015 for his ongoing work on behalf of children. Additionally, Dr. Margolis was the recipient of the 2016 BizTimes Health Care Heroes Award and was recognized in 2019 by the Donald Driver Foundation as a Driven To Achieve recipient for his work with Rainbow Camp, a day camp through the Jewish Community Center.

In 2022, the tradition of hair painting led to Dr. Margolis being honored with the Bruno Lambert Good Guy Award through the Jewish Sports Heritage Association.
Dr. Margolis attended Indiana University where he met his wife, Jody. He went on to earn his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison School of Medicine in 1989 and served an internship and residency in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin from 1989 to 1992. He completed a Hematology/Oncology fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin from 1992 to 1995, and was also a post-doctoral trainee in the molecular genetics laboratory at the Blood Center of Southeastern Wisconsin, Blood Research Institute.

Dr. Margolis and his wife, Jody, live in Mequon and have two adult daughters, Rachel Margolis-Goodman, who is married to Charlie Goodman, and Melissa Margolis who lives with her dog Rowdy.