On March 5, 2005 Alexander Achmat died in his sleep at his son's home in Hawaii. His was an unusual journey to Dartmouth. The end of World War II found Alexander and his mother - Polish citizens - in a displaced persons camp in Innsbruck, Austria. In some manner they came to be sponsored for immigration to the U.S. by Dartmouth professor Dimitri von Mohrenschildt. They ended up living in White River Junction because it was inexpensive.

Alexander Achmat - his surname was then Achmatowicz - joined the class of '52 in its sophomore year. He was then nearly thirty years old. An economics major, he graduated from the Tuck School and then went to work for the Rodger Babson Co.in Wellesley, Massachusetts where he was employed as a financial analyst. He retired from Babson in 2000 when he was eighty years old. His wife, Kathryn, predeceased him. He leaves a son, Alexander Achmat Jr.