Robert S. Alexander *42

Robert S. Alexander, professor emeritus at Albany (N.Y.) Medical College, died Nov. 11, 2008, of cancer. He was 91.

Alexander received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Amherst College and a Ph.D. in biology from Princeton in 1942 before becoming an instructor in physiology at Cornell Medical College. He then held academic appointments at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and at the Medical College of Georgia before he came to Albany Medical College in 1955 as professor and chair of the physiology department. Alexander also did consulting and helped Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the development of its biomedical and bioengineering programs. Throughout his academic career, he did extensive research on the control of the heart and blood vessels. He had published a textbook on clinical physiology.

During his retirement, he was historian for First Church in Albany and was fascinated by the neglected archives of his church, which was founded by the Dutch in 1642. He translated eight volumes of its early financial records and published a history of the church and the Dutch settlement in Albany.

Alexander is survived by Eleanor, his wife of 66 years; four children; nine grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. One daughter predeceased him.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.