Robert J. Alexander

Robert Jackson Alexander (November 26, 1918 – April 27, 2010) was an American political activist, writer, and academic who spent most of his professional career at Rutgers University. He is best remembered for his pioneering studies on the trade union movement in Latin America and dissident communist political parties, including ground-breaking monographs on the International Communist Right Opposition, Maoism, and the international Trotskyist movement.

Biography Early years Robert J. Alexander was born in Canton, Ohio, on November 26, 1918. His family moved to Leonia, New Jersey, in 1922, when his father, Ralph S. Alexander accepted a teaching position at Columbia University. Alexander graduated from the public high school in 1936 and matriculated at Columbia, receiving a B.A. degree in 1940 and a Master of Arts degree the following year. In 1936, Alexander took a senior trip to Spain, which sparked a lifelong interest in Hispanic cultures.

Alexander was a member of the board of directors of the Rand School of Social Science from 1952 until its closure in 1956. In 1961, he was named by president-elect John F. Kennedy to the Task Force on Latin America, which recommended the establishment of the Alliance for Progress.