Elizabeth Alexander

Elizabeth Alexander is an American poet, scholar, essayist, and cultural leader whose work has contributed significantly to contemporary African American literature. Known for her precise poetry and deep engagement with history, particularly African American history, Alexander was selected as President Barack Obama's inaugural poet. She became the fourth poet invited to read at a presidential inauguration, presenting her poem, "Praise Song for the Day," to a global audience. Following in the tradition of Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, and Miller Williams, Alexander's poem drew on traditional African praise songs and focused on the experiences of ordinary Americans, exploring the details, languages, and encounters that shape their lives.

Alexander's literary career encompasses poetry, memoir, and cultural criticism. Her poetry collections include "Crave Radiance: New and Selected Poems 1990–2010," "American Sublime"—a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize—"Antebellum Dream Book," "Body of Life," and "The Venus Hottentot." Her memoir, "The Light of the World," was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Biography. In "The Trayvon Generation," Alexander examines the role of art and culture in illuminating America's ongoing challenges with race and the experiences of young Black Americans.

In academia, Alexander served as the inaugural Frederick Iseman Professor of Poetry at Yale University and as Chair of the African American Studies Department at Yale. She has taught at Haverford College, the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania, and Smith College, where she was Grace Hazard Conkling Poet-in-Residence and the first director of the Poetry Center. Alexander is a founding member of Cave Canem, an organization dedicated to supporting African American poets.

Alexander's honors include grants from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Anisfield-Wolf Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry, and the inaugural Jackson Poetry Prize. She has received the W. E. B. Du Bois Medal from Harvard University and has been recognized as Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture and as one of Time's 100 Most Influential People. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.

Alexander is a recognized thought leader on race, justice, the arts, and American society. As president of the Mellon Foundation, she leads the nation's largest funder of the arts and humanities, supporting educational institutions and cultural organizations. During her tenure at the Ford Foundation, Alexander co-designed the Art for Justice Fund, an initiative using art and advocacy to address mass incarceration. She serves on the boards of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and the Pulitzer Prize, and is Chancellor Emeritus of the Academy of American Poets.