John David Alexander CBE (October 18, 1932 – July 25, 2010) was an American academic who served as president of Pomona College during a period of time where he led a major expansion of the school, and served as US National Secretary for the Rhodes Trust, overseeing the selection process for recipients of the Rhodes Scholarship from the United States.

He was raised in Princeton, Kentucky and graduated from Southwestern at Memphis College, now known as Rhodes College, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and with honors in Greek language, and then attended Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

[4] At 33, Alexander was one of the youngest college presidents in the United States and was the first alumnus to serve in the position.

[2] The annual selection process overseen by Alexander involved contacting officials at as many as 800 colleges and universities across the country.

[9] He was designated as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1998 by Queen Elizabeth II for his service to Oxford and was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2006.