NEW YORK — David Alexander, a former president of Pomona College in California who for 17 years oversaw the selection of Rhodes scholars from the United States, died July 25 of cancer at his home in Claremont, Calif. He was 77.
During Mr. Alexander’s 22-year tenure at Pomona, starting in 1969, the college’s endowment grew from $24 million to $296 million, 15 major buildings were built on campus, and the ethnic diversity of the student body increased significantly.
A Rhodes scholar himself, Mr. Alexander, as the American secretary of the Rhodes Trust from 1981 to 1998, made significant efforts to encourage more women to apply for the scholarships, the trust said in a statement.
Until 1976, when the British Parliament enacted a law overriding the will of Cecil Rhodes, only men could receive a scholarship, one of the world’s most prestigious academic awards.
