Alvin Schexnider is an award winning author, genealogist and board governance consultant. A native of
Lake Charles, Louisiana, he holds a B. A. in political science from Grambling State University and a MA
and PhD in political science from Northwestern University where he held Norman Wait Harris, Ford
Foundation and Woodrow Wilson fellowships.

Alvin began his academic career as an assistant professor of political science at Southern University
followed by faculty and academic administrative appointments at major research institutions including
Syracuse University, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of North Carolina
Greensboro. In 1996 he was appointed chancellor of Winston-Salem State University. He is also a former
executive vice president and interim president of Norfolk State University from which he retired in 2007.
After an eighteen-month hiatus he accepted an appointment as interim president of Thomas Nelson
Community College.

Alvin leads Schexnider & Associates, LLC, a consulting practice limited to board governance, executive coaching and strategy. He is a senior fellow and a senior consultant at the Association of Governing boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB). Alvin is the co-author of Blacks and the Military and he is the author of three books: Saving Black Colleges; Mayfield and Schexnider: Portrait of a Family that received the 2023 Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) International Book Award; and Confessions of a Black Academic: A Memoir. His articles have appeared in the Chronicle of Higher
Education, Diverse, Inside Higher Ed and Trusteeship. His opinion editorials have appeared in the
Atlanta- Journal Constitution, the Baton Rouge Advocate and the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Alvin is the recipient of seven gubernatorial appointments and he is a Fellow of the National Academy of
Public Administration (NAPA). His numerous honors and awards include the Grambling State University
Distinguished Alumni Award, the Alpha Phi Alpha Distinguished Educator of the Year Award, and the
Urban League Silver Star Award. His hobbies include visiting presidential libraries and museums,
attending classic car shows, and visiting Black college and university campuses. He is married and the father of a son and a daughter, and he has two grandchildren.