Kern Alexander - Biography

Biography

Prior to coming to the University of Illinois he served as President of two American state universities (Western Kentucky University and Murray State University), was a tenured distinguished professor at the University of Florida, Gainesville, University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech and held the Robinson Eminent Scholar Chair at the University of North Florida, Jacksonville. As President of Murray State, Alexander began a well-regarded residential college system. He is the author or co-author of 25 books on education finance and law and has served as finance expert in state school finance litigation in 22 American states.

Alexander founded the Oxford Round Table, a series of interdisciplinary conferences held at various colleges in the University of Oxford, in 1989. He has been closely involved with the Round Table ever since, often serving as its president. In recent years, some critics have criticized the Round Table for employing lax selection procedures or running "vanity conferences."

In his autobiography, My Life, President Bill Clinton quoted Dr. Alexander and described him as a nationally recognized expert on education policy. One of Alexander's books, American Public School Law, published by West/Wadsworth, now in its 7th edition, has been cited as setting the standard for texts in educational law.

Alexander holds a graduate diploma (with distinction) from the University of Oxford and an Ed.D. from Indiana University.