alexander deconde (born november 13, 1920 in utica, new york, died may 28, 2016 in goleta, california) was a historian of united states diplomatic history. raised in california, he attended san francisco state college for his b.a. following graduation in 1943, he attended the u.s. naval reserve midshipmen school in chicago, il. he was assigned to the destroyer tender u.s.s. whitney (ad-4), and was released from service in 1946. he received his m.a. and ph.d from stanford university, where he worked under the direction of thomas a. bailey. he taught at stanford, whittier college, and duke university. from 1957 to 1961, he was professor of history at the university of michigan. he subsequently joined the history department at the university of california at santa barbara, where he remained until his retirement in 1991. he helped to establish the society for historians of american foreign relations together with joseph p. o'grady of lasalle college (philadelphia) and david m. pletcher of indiana university. deconde served as the society’s second president and remained actively involved in the organization for the rest of his career. he also held elected and committee roles in the organization of american history, and served as vice president and president of the pacific coast branch of the american historical association.