Alexander's raspy voice has become legendary

To the people who know him best, he is simply "The Voice." For 34 years, John C.T. Alexander has been announcing the downs, yards, penalties and touchdowns for Penn football games. And in all that time, he has only missed two contests. But there is more to Alexander than just his famous raspy voice. He has traveled around the world, received a federal government appointment, founded his own contracting business and currently consults universities on internationalization. After serving several years in the Marine Corps, Alexander was offered the position of "The Voice of Franklin Field" from then-Sports Information Director Ed Fabricus. "I had been very active on the sidelines of Penn sports when I was an undergraduate," said Alexander, who received a degree from Wharton in 1958. "So when I was asked if I wanted to be 'The Voice of Franklin Field,' I said, 'Sure, I'd love to.' " In preparation for the game, Alexander creates roster sheets for each team and practices the pronunciation of each player's names. He also "triple gargles" -- which he said is the most important pre-game warmup for an announcer. His announcing staff consists of two of his five children, including 1987 College graduate John Alexander. "I think [John] wants to be the next Voice," Alexander said. Alexander said his most memorable football game was the 1982 Harvard-Penn Ivy League championship game when Penn kicked a field goal to win with only four seconds left on the clock -- recorded in legend as "the kick that almost wasn't." "It was an unbelievably nerve-wracking experience," Alexander said. "The first [field goal] attempt hit the uprights and went off -- no good -- but there was a flag on the play, so we got the second try and it was incredible." Although Penn football is not the same as when Alexander was an undergraduate, he said he thinks the University has a solid program regardless of whether it wins the Ivy League title every year. "I think it's football the way football should be played at the collegiate level," he said. "It's more important to have a grand experience with your cohorts, and that's basically what's taking place at Penn." But Alexander's Penn experiences are just a small part of this renaissance man's life. Although Alexander has retired from politics, he has decided to devote some of his time to promoting computerized voting machines. "It's just a fantasy of mine," he said. He also independently consults U.S. and foreign educational institutions on how to obtain federal funding and how to internationalize their schools. This field interested Alexander because of his experience working with the U.S. government. Alexander was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan to direct the U.S. Information Agency's International Voluntary Visitors Program. He then became director of the U.S. Department of Education's Center for International Education during the Bush administration. As a result of his two government appointments, Alexander has had the opportunity to travel to 36 different countries. But he calls Stratford, Pa., home, where he currently lives in a house for which he built an addition with his own hands.

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