Elizabeth Alexander is a decorated poet, playwright, essayist, and educator. She is the president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, as well as a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board. She has also held distinguished professorships at Columbia and at Yale, where she served as the chair of the Department of African American Studies. Her books include the poetry collection “American Sublime” and the memoir “The Light of the World,” both of which were Pulitzer finalists.
