Kenneth Cooper Alexander DEMDemocrat

Kenneth Cooper Alexander (born October 17, 1966) is an American politician currently serving as mayor of Norfolk, Virginia. Alexander also serves as chancellor for twenty career colleges which includes: (i) Centura College; a healthcare, business, and skilled trade programs school with four campuses in Hampton Roads and one in Richmond, Virginia; (ii) Aviation Institute of Maintenance (AIM), founded in Norfolk and now operating fourteen campuses nationwide and growing to become the largest system of aviation maintenance schools in the country; (iii) Tidewater Tech, a trade school located in Norfolk which offers welding and automotive mechanics programs and is currently the largest supplier of certified welders and HVAC technicians in the Commonwealth. The growth and work of this trade schools college system led to the establishment of the only Wind Turbine Technician program in the Mid-Atlantic, currently being offered at the Centura Norfolk Campus. Alexander also serves as president of Metropolitan Funeral Services.A native of Norfolk, he served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2002 to 2012, representing the 89th District in Norfolk. He served in the Senate of Virginia from 2012 to 2016, representing the 5th District in Norfolk and Chesapeake. Alexander has been a guest columnist in Virginia newspapers, lecturer on political science and leadership studies, and he is the author of Persistence: Evelyn Butts and the African American Quest for Full Citizenship and Self-Determination (2021).