Deleatrice (Dee) Alexander

By Day – I have been working at the UIC since 1990…initially in the College of Pharmacy with Dr. Norman Farnsworth and Harry Fong in PCRPS for about three years. Afterwards I worked with Dr. Antonio Scommegna who was the Chair and Department Head of Ob/Gyne…after he retired I transferred to OVCR in the Department of Office of Technology Management working with Jill Tarzian Sorensen. I am in OVCR in the Office of Research Services at the front desk….so I am the first person you will meet. Some may think that this position is solely a receptionist position, but it is hardly that. I am a people person and in this role there is great emphasis on customer service, organization and communication skills. I am responsible for intake of paperwork to be reviewed by budget reviewers for processing grants and contracts. Deadline periods are stressful, but I manage it in stride!!!!

By Night – While holding down a full time position here at UIC, I am also a performing artist. I took part in the Millennium Park series of “Home Cooked Jazz” on Sep 11 performing a tribute to Nina Simone and Dinah Washington. I am also a member of the AACM Chicago Chapter- Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians which is an organization dedicated to creating, developing, composing, nurturing and performing original music. I have two groups “Dee Alexander Quartet and the Evolution Ensemble, but have also performed with various artists such as Orbert Davis, Nicole Mitchell, AACM’s Great Black Music Ensemble, Inventions, Ernest Dawkins’ Chicago 12, just to name a few. In November, I performed in Poznan, Poland with a group of performing artists in a series called “Made in Chicago” which was sponsored by the Jazz Institute of Chicago. I am currently working on a CD project collaborating with Miguel dela Cerna, which should be released by this summer. I was selected as the 2007 Chicagoan of the Year in Jazz and won the 2008 Chicago Jazz Entertainer of the year at the Chicago Music Awards.