Many students at Anderson University are familiar with Dr. J. Doug Nelson, either from the political science and history classrooms or from campus activities such as the Center for Public Services or Model United Nations. Still more students have seen him biking around campus or singing with his wife in their church choir or the Anderson Symphonic Choir. The extent of Nelson’s involvement at AU, however, reaches back to 1975. Since that year, Nelson has been contributing to this university and to his local and global community in many ways.

Before coming to AU, Nelson worked in Washington DC as a Program Assistant for the government’s Center for Area and Country Studies. However, he found that position was “not a shoe that fit my foot.” After choosing education as “better fit,” Nelson eventually found his way to Anderson College and began working within the school’s community as well as in Anderson.

At AU, Nelson has been teaching political science and directing the Center for Public Service. Through CPS, Nelson works with about 35 honor students a year, helping them explore field experiences, coordinate campus events, and move toward a career in public services. He also started the Model United Nations program at AU to teach students about the global applications of political science theories and about world affairs from individual countries’ points of view. One of his goals in his classes and programs, he says, is to render students “incapable of being indifferent to the world.”

Nelson lives out his own words, “Any Christian citizen has the obligation to be involved in the community,” on a daily basis. In the broader community, Nelson has served in many ways and on many boards, including those of Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences and the Indiana Consortium for International Programs. For 16 years, Nelson served on the Board of Trustees for the Anderson Public Library, now one of the strongest libraries in the country for a city the size of Anderson. He has worked with the State Commission on Student Assistance, the Academy in Public Services of Georgetown University, and with elected officials in Indiana. Nelson is also a member of the Madison County Habitat for Humanity Board. “It’s a way of expressing Christian concern for the poor,” he says. “It makes the communities better and it helps the individuals to the next step up in society.”

Since 1976, he has been publishing and presenting conference lectures on world affairs, in addition to lecturing and teaching at various institutions. He is currently Chair of Anderson University’s political science department. Working with the students, associating with the other faculty members, combining administration and teaching, and keeping in touch with alumni are his favorite aspects of his job. Nelson’s enjoyment of and commitment to his career is recognized and appreciated by his colleagues and his students. In 2001, he was awarded the John Morrison Award for Excellence in Teaching and Service. That award, like this one, came as a “total surprise” to Nelson, but neither honor could surprise anyone who has been in his classroom, learned through his direction, or seen his involvement in the community.