William Alexander

William Alexander (1848–1937) was an author of over ten works, over sixty-five year employee of The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, and a founder of Pi Kappa Alpha. Biography Alexander was born to theologian James Waddel Alexander on September 5, 1848. His paternal grandfather was Archibald Alexander, a preacher and theologian, President of Hampden-Sydney College and founder of Princeton Theological Seminary. William's mother was a member of the prestigious Cabell family who assisted Thomas Jefferson in the founding of the University of Virginia. Although Alexander was born in New York, much of his childhood schooling was at a Virginia school. During the American Civil War he lived in England with his mother, as his father died in 1859. While attending The University of Virginia he became the youngest of the six founders of Pi Kappa Alpha. Sunday evening March 1, 1868, William Alexander, Frederick Southgate Taylor, Littleton Waller Tazewell (Bradford), James Benjamin Sclater Jr., Julian Edward Wood, and Robertson Howard founded Pi Kappa Alpha at 47 West Range. Despite close contact with his uncle and three fellow fraternity founders all involved in medicine, Alexander sought to pursue the realm of business with Taylor and Tazewell.