Alexander Frank Makay was born in New York City on May 21, 1888 and attended public schools there. In 1930, his last name was legally changed to Mackay.
Makay graduated from New York University and continued a life-long association with NYU as an alumnus. As an undergraduate, he was a football and track star and later served on the athletic council. Makay deserves much of the credit for NYU’s days of gridiron greatness, having coaxed Chick Meehan to leave Syracuse and become head coach at NYU where he put together football teams that were the best in the East.
Despite a busy practice in the accounting firm bearing his name, Makay was active in several clubs in and around New York but none eclipsed Delta Sigma Pi, the Fraternity he founded along with
three other men. In the early days of the Fraternity, Makay was a member of several national committees and served on the Delta Sigma Pi Board for six years. On the day of his death, he was to have hosted a Fraternity function at his home at Sea Cliff, Long Island, New York.
Makay and his wife, Marion, had one daughter. His brother, William J. Makay, was a later member of the Alpha Chapter of Delta Sigma Pi.