Joshua Pelleg received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering Technion Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel, M.S. in Metallurgy, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, USA, and Ph.D. in Metallurgy, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. He is affiliated with Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Materials Engineering Department, Beer Sheva, Israel, since 1970, being among the departments' founders and its second chairman.

He has taught ever since the subjects of mechanical properties of materials, diffusion in solids and defects in solids. He has chaired several university committees and served four terms as the Chairman of Advanced Studies in Ben Gurion University. Professor Pelleg was the recipient of the Samuel Ayrton chair in Metallurgy. His current research interests are mechanical properties of materials, diffusion in solids, thin film deposition, and properties and characterization of thin films.