Alva is a city in and the county seat of Woods County, Oklahoma, United States, along the Salt Fork Arkansas River. The population was 5,028 at the time of the 2020 Census, up from 4,945 at the 2010 census. Northwestern Oklahoma State University is located in Alva.

Lex Frieden is an American educator, researcher, disability policy expert and disability rights activist. Frieden has been called "a chief architect of the Americans with Disabilities Act." He is also regarded as a founder and leader of the independent living movement by people with disabilities in the U.S.