Dr.
Jeffrey E. Nelson has been appointed to the new William R. Gruver Chair
of Leadership Studies at Berea College. Nelson’s appointment, announced
by Dr. David Porter, College Provost and Academic Vice President, began
Aug. 2.
Dr. Jeffrey E. Nelson
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The newly established William R. Gruver Chair in Leadership Studies is
one of two endowed chairs providing leadership for the Appalachian Center’s
Entrepreneurship for the Public Good (EPG) program, which integrates
entrepreneurial and leadership theory and puts these concepts into practice
in Appalachia. The Gruver Chair honors Berea trustee William R. Gruver
who was a partner in Goldman Sachs in New York City and now teaches finance
and leadership courses at Bucknell
University.
In addition to serving as EPG co-director, Nelson also holds a joint
appointment as assistant professor in the Sociology Department.
The Abingdon, Ill. native comes to Berea from the United States Air
Force Academy (USAFA) where he served as a faculty member of the Department
of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership for 12 years. In addition to
developing and teaching courses in leadership, Nelson designed leadership
enrichment seminars for faculty and students, designed leadership curriculums
and public school mentoring programs. As Deputy Department Head for
Leadership Development for the past three years, he supervised a seven-person
staff charged to develop, manage and present a variety of leadership
programs at the USAFA. These included coaching and mentoring programs
for faculty and students, the creation of a Leadership Research Office
and designing a “Leadership Across the Curriculum” program.
Prior to teaching, Nelson held positions in the Air Force as leader
of a research and development team and as Director of Information Management
(IM) and Chief of IM Plans and Programs for the Eighth Air Force Headquarters
at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana.
Nelson is an experienced presenter on leadership topics to both Air
Force and civilian groups and has conducted numerous workshops on leadership
and team development. He also has served as a consultant on leadership
development with the Air Force, schools and for NASA.
Honors include selection in 2003 as a Presidential Fellow to represent
the USAFA at Salzburg Seminars in Salzburg, Austria; and the Academy’s
Excellence in Teaching Award in 2000.
After earning B.A. and M.A. degrees from Western Illinois University,
Nelson earned an M.S. in Information Resource Management from the Air
Force Institute of Technology. He holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Pennsylvania
State University.
Nelson and his wife, Kathy, have four daughters.
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