Samuel Craighead “Craig” Alexander ’51

Samuel Craighead “Craig” Alexander ’51, 80, of Haverford, Pa., an anesthesiologist and retired Hahnemann Medical College dean, died of a stroke June 23 at Penobscot Valley Hospital in Maine. A talented photographer, Alexander had been participating in the Maine Media Workshops in Rockport. From 1991 until he retired in 1996, Alexander was dean of affiliate affairs at Hahnemann Medical College, now Drexel University College of Medicine. Before that, he chaired the department of anesthesiology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine for 20 years. Alexander grew up in Charlotte, N.C., and earned a bachelor’s degree from Davidson. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and completed an internship at Philadelphia General Hospital, a residency in anesthesiology at Penn, and a fellowship in pharmacology at Penn. He was then a professor of anesthesiology at Penn for eight years. For a year, he did research in Copenhagen, Denmark, on cerebral blood flow. He then spent two years as director of the Winslow, Ariz., Navajo Indian Hospital. He was chairman of the department of anesthesiology at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine before going to Wisconsin. Alexander was active with the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the Association of University Anesthesiologists and helped establish the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research. Since 1951, he had been married to his childhood sweetheart, Betty Pyron Alexander, 3300 Darby Rd., Apt. C904, Haverford, PA 19041-1065. The couple had a summer home in Wisconsin and traveled extensively in the United States and abroad, including trips with their grandchildren to England, Spain, South Africa, and Easter Island. Alexander was a passionate student of history, his family said, and he loved exploring new places. He was an elder and deacon at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, Samuel C. Alexander III; daughters, Christian Libson and Baine Alexander; a sister; and eight grandchildren. Memorials may be made to Davidson College, Box 7174, Davidson, NC 28035, for the Samuel Craighead Alexander ’51 Memorial Fund.