F or over twenty years, Elizabeth Alexander has taught and mentored her students at some of the nation’s most well-respected colleges and universities including Haverford College, Northwestern University, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, and Smith College. At the University of Chicago, she received the Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the oldest and most prestigious teaching award that the university presents. Her attitude toward mentorship informs her teaching outside of the academy as well. In addition to her work at colleges and universities, Elizabeth Alexander has taught numerous poetry workshops. Most significantly, serving as both faculty and honorary director, Alexander has been an integral member of Cave Canem, an organization dedicated to the development and endurance of African American poetic voices. At her current institutional home, Yale University, where she is a professor of African American Studies, she continues to serve her students as both teacher and mentor. Undoubtedly, teaching will continue to be a high priority for Professor Alexander even when she assumes the chairship of Yale’s Department of African American Studies in July 2009.

• For more information about Professor Alexander’s teaching, visit the website for African American Studies at Yale.

• For information about Cave Canem, an organization aimed at cultivating the voices of African American poetry please visit their website.