A native of Jacksonville, Florida, Martha Bedell Alexander, mother of two and grandmother of five, has lived in Charlotte since 1970. Martha earned her undergraduate degree from Florida State University, a Master of Human Development and Learning from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a Doctor of Education from Northeastern University. Martha also has a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Global Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Martha has had what she terms a “checkered career”. She taught in elementary schools in Florida and Canada, worked as a high school librarian in Montreal and then raised a family while remaining involved in the communities in which she lived. In the late 70’s Martha was the Chaplain’s Assistant at Presbyterian Hospital (now Novant Health). Martha served as the Executive Director of the Charlotte Council on Alcoholism (now Anuvia) before her journey into politics where she served for twenty years in the North Carolina House of Representatives. After serving in the legislature, she pursued her doctoral studies from Northeastern University Charlotte. In 2019, on the main campus of Northeastern University in Boston, she was inducted into The Huntington 100, a recognition program designed to honor outstanding students for their achievements. She was the first regional campus recipient.
Her state and federal political appointments include being appointed by Governor Hunt to the North Carolina Alcoholism Research Authority and appointed to the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) in 1987 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Otis R. Bowen, M.D. She was reappointed to the NIAAA Advisory Council in 1990 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services Louis W. Sullivan, M.D.
Martha has been active in the community, serving on various agencies and boards. She has also served and represented her church locally as well as on the diocesan and church wide levels. She is currently a member of the World Service Council of the YWCA, the Board of Trustees of the Church Pension Fund (Episcopal), Salvation Army Rehabilitation Advisory Board, and the Charlotte Latin School Board of Visitors.
