Career Highlights

Dr. Alexander Cartwright is the sixth president of the University of Central Florida (UCF), a position he has held since April 2020. He has more than 20 years of leadership experience in higher education and is a respected voice on matters of student success.

Dr. Cartwright holds a Bachelor of Science and a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, where he specialized in Electrical and Computer Engineering. His academic training includes time spent as a postdoctoral scientist at the University of Iowa’s Laboratory for Photonics and Quantum Electronics.

Prior to joining the University of Central Florida, Dr. Cartwright served as chancellor at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He has held leadership roles at The State University of New York and the University at Buffalo, where he began his career.

A Reputation for Institutional Excellence

As a first-generation college student who followed a non-traditional path to higher education, Dr. Cartwright is a staunch advocate for student success. He has prioritized pathways that support the more than 70,000 learners who call UCF home and that further the potential of students, faculty, employees and the community.

As UCF President, he has strengthened the institution’s reputation as Florida’s Technological University and as one of the largest public universities in the U.S. Dr. Cartwright has championed institutional initiatives that support academic, research and innovation excellence; advance emerging technologies; and support the industries crucial to Florida’s and the nation’s future. UCF is also consistently named one of the nation’s most innovative universities by U.S. News & World Report.

Advancing the Field of Optical Sensors

Dr. Cartwright is an internationally recognized researcher and scholar in the area of optical sensors. He is a fellow of four technical societies — American Association for the Advancement of Science, Optica, National Academy of Inventors and SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics. He is also a senior IEEE member.

Over the course of his research career, he has been awarded the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award and the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, among other accolades. In 2002, he earned the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.