John David Alexander

A Rhodes Scholar, John David Alexander served as the president of two liberal arts colleges, a professor of Old Testament, the American Secretary of the Rhodes Scholarship Trust, a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, a Distinguished Friend of Oxford University, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Born in Springfield, Tennessee, in 1932, Alexander attended Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College), graduating in 1953, Phi Beta Kappa with honors in Greek. In 1965, Dr. Alexander was the first elected President of Rhodes College to have earned his undergraduate degree at the College. Rhodes awarded him the Doctor of Letters honorary degree in 1986. He died at the age of 77 on July 25, 2010.