AASCU, Annual Meeting Reports, 1973-1977

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Born on November 15, 1915 Richard Nelson attended public schools in his native Chicago and worked as a bank clerk before entering the University of Illinois. Shortly after graduation in 1940, Nelson enlisted in the First Infantry Division serving in North Africa and Europe. He returned to school and earned a doctor of laws degree from Northwestern University in 1948. From 1949 to 1952 Nelson worked in top level positions for the State of Illinois. After serving as Assistant State's Attorney, General and Administrative Assistant to Governor Adlai E. Stevenson, he joined a Chicago based firm, the Inland Steel Company in 1953. There Nelson spent most of his professional career working as an executive in the industrial relations and personnel administration divisions. He held the following positions: Manager of Labor Relations, 1959-1965; Director of Public Relations, 1965-1968; Assistant Vice-President for Public Affairs, 1968-1971. Aside from administrative duties at the Inland Steel Company, Nelson was Vice Chairman of the Illinois Board of Higher Education and participant in the completion of the first two phases of the Illinois Master Plan for Higher Education. He also was named to the Board of Governors of State Colleges and Universities and served as chairman from 1967 to 1968. In 1971 Nelson became President of Northern Illinois University. His major task was to eliminate problems created by enrollment decline and budgetary restrictions. He met these problems through reorganizing administrative units and instructional positions, encouraging off-campus programs to link Northern more vitally to its constituents, and initiating attempts to win support for Northern in the state legislature. Having contributed to the educational, political, and civic related activities on campus, President Nelson resigned from his position in 1978. He retired to Evanston, and died there May 13, 1994. Richard J. Nelson’s papers regarding the Illinois Committee for Fair Employment Practices, 1959-1966, are held by the Illinois Historical Survey at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (Inventory in Quick Reference File 3.10)