That Alex Osborn was a “big-shot” (though a reluctant one) is evidenced by his correspondence with such high-powered people as Henry Ford II, Earl Warren (Governor of California and later Chief Justice of the Supreme Court), Richard Nixon (during his Vice Presidency to Lyndon B. Johnson), and President Herbert Hoover.

Osborn, a native New Yorker, fell in love with the city of Buffalo where he decided to settle and raise a family. Refusing to live in New York, he commuted to New York to work at BBDO during the week and returned to Buffalo on the weekends.

Osborn served in Troop I Cavalry of the National Guard in 1913 and re-enlisted in 1917.

Osborn received the Red Feather Award in 1951. The award was given annually to the an outstanding volunteer leader for distinguished national service to the Community Chests (now the United Way).