Alexander Crombie Humphreys, M.E., Sc.D., LL.D. (1851-1927) was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and immigrated to the United States in 1859. He later married Miss Eva Guillaudeu of Bergen Point and together they had three children: Harold, Crombie and Dorothy. Harold (1877-1901) and Crombie (1884-1901) later drowned in the Nile River on February 12, 1901. After a long battle with cancer, Alexander C. Humphreys died at his home in Morristown, New Jersey on August 14th, 1927.

Throughout his professional career, Humphreys was a notable scholar and educator. While holding the position of superintendent of the Bayonne Gas Light Company, Humphreys enrolled as a part time student at Stevens Institute of Technology in 1877 and earned his M.E. in 1881. After graduating, Humphreys served as the Chief Engineer of the Pintsch Lighting Company. In 1885, he was became Superintendent of Construction at the United States Gas Improvement Company and within two years became the General Superintendent and Chief Engineer. Later, he founded his own firm, Humphreys and Glasgow—later Humphreys and Miller, which constructed and operated gas plants around the world.

Following the death of Stevens' first president, Henry Morton, Humphreys served as president of Stevens Institute of Technology from 1902 to 1927. Many additions to the campus were brought about during Humphrey's tenure. From 1909-1911, Stevens purchased most of the Castle Point property in Hoboken, including Castle Stevens, the primary residence of the Stevens family since the 1850s. His administration also saw the creation of the school's first athletic program, the development of student self-government, the introduction of Engineering Economics as a field of study, and the construction of the Carnegie Laboratory of Engineering, the Morton Memorial Laboratory of Chemistry, and William Hall Walker Gymnasium.

Humphreys announced his resignation and retirement from Stevens in early 1927 and passed away from cancer later that summer on August 14, 1927.