Charles J. Alexander has been appointed associate vice provost for student diversity in UCLA's Division of Undergraduate Education. He will start September 1.

Alexander, currently associate dean for student affairs in the School of Dentistry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), will head UCLA's Academic Advancement Program and the Center for Community College Partnerships. He also will serve as a representative on the Chancellor's Committee on Diversity and the Committee on Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with Schools.

"Dr. Alexander will come to UCLA with a wealth of experience in running programs for students who have traditionally been underserved by higher education, including students from immigrant families and those from underrepresented populations," said Judith L. Smith, vice provost for undergraduate education. "He is ideal for UCLA's associate vice provost for student diversity, and I look forward with great anticipation to his leadership at UCLA and in the Academic Advancement Program, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary on campus."

In this highly visible position, Alexander will provide the executive and intellectual leadership for a collection of innovative programs designed for more than 6,000 UCLA undergraduates from diverse populations. The Academic Advancement Program (AAP) promotes academic achievement and excellence through academic advising, collaborative learning workshops, graduate studies and professional-school mentoring, and summer bridge programs for entering freshman and transfer students, as well as scholarships for AAP students.

"I am very grateful and honored to be selected as the next associate vice provost for student diversity at UCLA," Alexander said. "I look forward to working with the campus community and supporting the various diversity initiatives on campus."

Alexander has been at UCSF since 1996, where he has overseen the areas of student admissions, outreach and recruitment, academic support programs, and student services. He also has held positions as director of student academic affairs and assistant dean of student academic
affairs. Prior to arriving at UCSF, Alexander had extensive experience in creating and running student diversity programs at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis., and Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass.

Alexander also has held various teaching positions at several universities, including UCSF, Ohio State University, Marquette University and Brandies University. He is currently an associate adjunct professor in the division of oral epidemiology and dental public health at USCF.

Alexander has been honored for his many achievements. In 1998, when Alexander was president of the National Association of Medical Minority Educators, the governor of Kentucky commissioned him a Kentucky Colonel, the state's highest honor. The National Association of Medical Minority Educators presented him with its Outstanding Leadership Award. In 2005, UCSF presented him with the Martin Luther King Jr. Award in recognition of his extraordinary leadership and inspiration in advancing the goals of social and economic justice.

Alexander also has been active in programs sponsored by the national Council for Opportunity in Education.

Alexander is a native of Syracuse, N.Y. He received a bachelor's degree in sociology from the State University of New York at Cortland, a master's in sociology from the University of Nebraska at Omaha; and a doctorate in the sociological foundations of education from Marquette University.

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