The CBORD Group, Inc.
190 Algerine Road
Ithaca, NY 14882
Phone: 607-533-7678
Fax: 607-257-1902
e-mail: jea13@cornell.edu
URL: http://www.cbord.com

JOHN E. ALEXANDER (AB '74, MBA '76) is board chairman and founder of The CBORD Group Inc., a systems integration firm based in Ithaca, NY. Before this position, he was vice president in the Money Market Division of Bankers Trust Company (now Deutsche Bank) in their eurodollar trading operation.

As President and CEO of CBORD, Mr. Alexander led CBORD through 29 years of growth, to become the leading supplier of management systems and services for food and institutional services organizations worldwide. In 2004, Mr. Alexander sold a large portion of his interest in CBORD to a consortium of Sterling Investment Partners (a private equity firm) and Oak Investment Partners (a venture capital firm). He stepped down as President and CEO, allowing his partners (of 23+ years) Tim Tighe and Bruce Lane to take over day-to-day management of the company. Mr. Alexander now chairs the board of directors of CBORD, and focuses his attention on his family and service to the community and Cornell University, as well as his tennis and squash games.

Elected to Cornell’s Board of Trustees by the alumni body to a four-year term beginning July 1, 2000, Mr. Alexander and his wife Elaine (Hotel ’77) serve as co-chairs for the President’s Circle, which is Cornell’s recognition society for leadership-level supporters of the University, as well as serving on the Major Gifts Committee. Mr. Alexander has served on the Alumni Affairs and Development, Buildings and Properties, Land Grant and Statutory College Affairs, and Trustee-Community Communications Committees of the Board of Trustees. Since his election, he also served as a member on the Audit Committee and chaired that committee for three years, leading the organization through the new disciplines imposed by Sarbanes-Oxley. Alexander has served on several trustee task forces, including the Downtown Ithaca Office Building Advisory Committee, the Land Grant Technology Transfer Panel, the Life Sciences Technology Task Force, the Capital Project Cost Team, as well as the Alumni Affairs Steering Committee. He also serves on the advisory board of CCTEC, Cornell’s technology transfer organization, and the board of the Cornell Research Foundation.

Mr. Alexander's other service to Cornell has included co-chairing the Tower Club for three years, as well as membership on the Cornell University Council (1995-present). For the Council, he has served on its administrative board (including vice chair 1999-00), membership committee (1997-98), and career advising and placement committee (1997-99); he was also co-chair of the annual meeting planning committee from 1998-2000. Other Cornell activities have included Class of 1974 vice president and treasurer, member of the Entrepreneurship@Cornell Program’s Advisory Council, whose advisory council he currently co-chairs. John is former co-president of the Cornell Club of the Ithaca Area. John was the 1987-88 Dorothy M. Proud Lecturer in Nutritional Sciences. He serves on the Johnson Art Museum’s Community Advisory Board, and the Public Service Center’s Civic Leadership Fellows Program Selection Committee.

Locally, Mr. Alexander has been involved in numerous activities. These include the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, FOODNET, Tompkins County's elderly home-delivered meal program, the Sciencenter’s Advisory Board, the Boy Scouts of America, and the Cayuga Venture Fund. John also is a member of the Tompkins Trustco Board of Directors, where he serves on the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, the Audit Committee, and the boards of both the bank and of the holding company.

John serves on the board and executive committee of the United Way of Tompkins County, and chaired its annual campaign for the 2002-2003 year.

Ernst and Young selected John as the Upstate New York Technology Entrepreneur of the in 2002.