Alvin "Al" Goldfarb was the tenth president of Western Illinois University. Prior to his current position from 1977 to 2002 he was on the faculty of the department of theatre at Illinois State University in Normal, where he was also chairman of the theatre department, dean of fine arts from 1988 to 1998, and provost and vice president for academic affairs from 1998. He earned a Ph.D. in theater history from the City University of New York.