Michael J. Alexander

Michael Joseph Alexander is a British academic. He was educated at Downside School, and the Universities of Oxford, Perugia and Princeton. He was, from 1985 until his retirement in 2003, the Berry Professor of English Literature at St Andrews University.

Professor Alexander is renowned throughout the world as a translator of Old English verse: his verse translation of Beowulf has been singled out for particular praise. He is also the author of acclaimed histories of Old English and of English Literature. Outside of academia, British radio listeners are familiar with his voice as a member of the Scottish team on the BBC Radio 4's Round Britain Quiz.