Donald N. Nelson

Nelson, Donald N. of Oxford, age 90, passed away on December 16th.

Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Emery and Marian Nelson, he completed high school in Tuckahoe, New York, where he lettered in football and was a member of the national honor society.

As a student at Duke University, he was president of his fraternity, played in the marching band, and represented the student YMCA as a delegate to the Continental Conference of the World Alliance of YMCAs in Paris, France.

Serving as a U.S. Marine, he was named outstanding recruit in his platoon and earned two meritorious promotions.

After earning a graduate degree in International Affairs at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, he spent a year in New York City on the staff of the Institute of International Education before accepting an appointment at Miami University (OH) to be its first advisor to foreign students.

When he retired in 2003 as Administrator Emeritus he was Director of International Education Services. In a career spanning 43 years, he served his professional association as its national president, chair of the council of advisors to foreign students and scholars, chair of the annual conference, and consultant. He was a member of the board of directors of the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE); the International Education Committee of the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB); and chair of the International Admissions Committee of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers (AACRAO). He also served as a consultant to the Ohio College Association and was a founding member of the Ohio International Consortium.

Early in his career, he was a recipient of a U.S. State Department grant to join a seminar group that spent six weeks in India as a means to better understand the cultural and educational backgrounds of Indian students attending U.S. academic institutions. He helped to train the volunteers of the Mississippi Summer Project in 1964, the famous program that helped increase Black voter registration in the south and became a crucial component of the civil rights movement.

Nelson was a Fulbright grantee to Germany, served as a consultant for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural affairs, U.S. Department of State, in five countries of the Far East, and was a member of a team to interview students in East Africa who were applying for grants to be awarded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

While on the staff at Miami, he organized and coached the men’s soccer club, which became the nucleus of the men's soccer team established in 1971. He continued his involvement in soccer by coaching in local youth leagues and becoming a soccer official certified by the Ohio High School Athletic Association.

As a member or the Oxford United Methodist Church, he served as chair of the administrative board, and of the Wesley Foundation Board of Directors. He enjoyed being a member of the Oxford Men’s Club for several decades. An avid stamp collector, his impressive collection was only surpassed by his extensive knowledge and deep admiration for one of the world’s great legendary aircraft, the Douglas DC-3. 

He was preceded in death by his beloved daughter, Diane, and leaves behind his wife, Judith; daughter, Erika of Oxford; sons, Brian (Natalia) of Aurora, Colorado, Philip (Kana) of Osaka, Japan; and five grandchildren.

It was at his request that there be no funeral or memorial service. A private burial is to be at Heritage Acres in Cincinnati. Contributions can be made to the International Student Emergency Fund at Miami. If by check, pay to: “Miami University Foundation” and on the memo line, write acct. No. 5910-001. Mail to: Miami University Annual Giving, 725 E. Chestnut St., Oxford, OH 45056; or to the Maya Education Foundation Diane Nelson Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 1483, Wellfleet, MA 02667 http://www.mayaedufound.org

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