Alexander, Archibald

Alexander, Archibald

(1772–1851) Protestant clergyman, educator; born near Lexington, Va. The son of a merchant/farmer, he underwent a religious conversion in 1789, began to evangelize, and proved to be a fluent and persuasive preacher. Ordained in the Presbyterian ministry in 1794, he served two terms as president of Hampden-Sidney College (1796–1801, 1802–07). He became a professor at the newly established Princeton Theological Seminary in 1812 and remained there for the rest of his life. His teaching, along with a series of published essays, reviews, tracts, and sermons, gave him wide influence among the Presbyterians of his time.