Elizabeth Alexander delivered the inaugural poem Praise Song for the Day at President Obama's inauguration in 2009. Born in New York City, she received a BA from Yale University, an MA from Boston University, and a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. Her collections include The Venus Hottentot (1990), American Sublime (Graywolf Press, 2005), a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and Crave Radiance: New and Selected Poems 1990–2010 (Graywolf Press, 2010). She is president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and formerly chaired the African American Studies department at Yale University.
