Chancellor, University of Michigan-Flint
Flint, Michigan
Dr. Laurence B. Alexander is the chancellor of the University of Michigan-Flint. He also serves as an executive officer of the University of Michigan. He joined the university on July 1, 2024 after serving 11 years as chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, a public historically black land-grant research university that offers degrees in more than 50 programs at the bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. levels. Under his leadership, UAPB grew enrollments, achieved remarkable increases in retention and graduation rates, launched new marketable academic programs, received reaffirmation of 10-year university accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission, reached higher levels of research investment and grant funding, and raised major gift endowments by 250 percent.
Prior to joining UAPB, Alexander had a distinguished 22-year career as a professor and administrator at the University of Florida, the state’s land-grant flagship research institution. He joined the UF faculty in 1991 as an assistant professor and rose through the academic ranks to become a tenured full professor in the UF College of Journalism and Communications. While at UF, Alexander served as a Distinguished Teaching Scholar, Provost Administrative Fellow in the Office of Academic Affairs, Director of the Office of Graduate Minority Programs, Associate Dean of the Graduate School, and Chair of the Department of Journalism.
Alexander is the co-author of “Student Free Speech in Public Higher Education,” a book published by the Education Law Association, and is the author or co-author of numerous publications in scholarly and professional journals, including articles in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Yale Law & Policy Review, Communications and the Law, Free Speech Yearbook, Notre Dame Journal of Legislation, Loyola Entertainment Law Review, Tulane Maritime Law Journal, UCLA National Black Law Journal, and many more.
A native of New Orleans, Alexander earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Orleans, a master’s degree in journalism and communications from the University of Florida, a Juris Doctor from Tulane University, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education from Florida State University.