LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ -- Dr. Richard Alexander (left) of Langhorne, PA, professor and chair of the Department of Geological and Marine Sciences at Rider University, has been appointed chair and assistant dean of science in the University's College of Liberal Arts, Education, and Sciences.

Dr. Alexander joined the geology and marine sciences faculty in 1981 after teaching at Utah State University for about nine years. He gained the rank of full professor at Rider in 1986 and has served as department chair between 1983 and 1991 and again from 1993 to present.

His research focuses on marine ecology and environment as well as substrate selectivity of horse mussels, blue mussels, and predation on brachiopods. Important to all his research at Rider is the assistance he receives from his marine science students.

He has taught numerous courses to include historical geology, marine vertebrate paleontology, marine invertebrate paleoecology, marine biology, conservation of natural resources, geostatistics, marine ecology, stratigraphy, and others. He also taught a Princeton-YBRA geology summer field course in Red Lodge, MT.

Author of several professional papers and articles, Dr. Alexander received both his Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in geology from Indiana University in 1970 and 1972, respectively. He earned a B.S. degree in geology and Phi Beta Kappa honors from the University of Cincinnati in 1968.

Rider University is an independent, coeducational, nonsectarian institution with a 353-acre campus in Lawrenceville, NJ, and a 23-acre campus in Princeton, NJ. The University offers 58 undergraduate programs and 15 graduate programs in business, liberal arts, science, education, and music. Ninety-five percent of Rider's faculty members hold doctoral or other appropriate terminal degrees. U.S. News and World Report has again ranked Rider in the top tier of northern universities based on the quality of its programs.