Poet, essayist, playwright and Yale professor Elizabeth Alexander made history in 2009 as the fourth poet to compose and deliver a poem at a presidential inauguration. Immediately following Barack Obama’s inaugural address, Alexander’s oration echoed through the streets of Washington D.C. as millions listened worldwide.

Joining the ranks of other celebrated honorees Robert Frost and Maya Angelou, Elizabeth Alexander’s task was even more historic as America welcomed the first African-American president into the White House. The daughter of a civil rights advisor to President Johnson, she has come full-circle having recited her poem, “Praise Song for the Day” on the same Mall where she, as a child, witnessed Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech.

A long-time advocate of the arts as a critical element of our civic dialogue, she has said, “Poetry is not meant to cheer; rather, poetry challenges, and moves us towards transformation.” Alexander’s collections of poetry, which explore issues of race, gender and politics, include American Sublime, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Antebellum Dream Book, The Venus Hottentot, and Body of Life. She has been published in the Paris Review, American Poetry Review and The Washington Post and she has appeared on The Colbert Report, CBS News and PBS’ The Newshour.

Professor Alexander has taught literature and creative writing and read her poetry across the United States and abroad for over twenty years. In July 2009, she assumed the chairship of the Department of African American Studies at Yale University. Her awards include a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Alphonse Fletcher, Sr. Fellowship for work that “contributes to improving race relations in American society.”