Boasting a varied career as a law school administrator and scholar, a litigator, and even a political adviser and candidate, Mark Alexander has been selected as the new dean of Villanova University’s Charles Widger School of Law.

When he officially assumes his role on July 1, Alexander will become the first African-American to ever hold the position, writes Chris Mondics of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

According to Mondics, Alexander once served as senior adviser for President Obama’s 2008 presidential election campaign, and once ran for office – unsuccessfully, in the Democratic primary for the New Jersey Senate in 2013.

Alexander is widely considered an expert on the First Amendment.

“I have been in legal academia for 20 years now and . . . I feel like I have had a career that has led me to the point where I would be well-positioned to take on a position of leadership,” he said.

The 51-year-old Alexander now serves as associate dean for academics at the Seton Hall University School of Law, where he also is a professor. As a member of that faculty for two decades, he has focused on constitutional law, criminal procedure, election law, and other subjects.

“Mark Alexander brings tremendous academic and practical skills to his new role as dean,” said Rev. Peter M. Donohue, Villanova’s president. “Our search centered on finding an individual who understands the changing landscape of the legal industry, believes in the values of Villanova’s Augustinian Catholic tradition, and has the breadth of experience to sustain . . . the law school’s forward momentum.”

Click here to read more about Mark Alexander in the Philadelphia Inquirer.