Alfred Clarence "Pete" Nelson (November 14, 1898 – 1980) was an American chemist and academic who taught at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

and also served as an interim chancellor.

Early life

Nelson was born in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

on November 14, 1898. At the age of two, his family moved to

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. Nelson graduated from Denver's South High School in 1916. He received the nickname "Pete" while playing football in high school, after a University of Colorado football player named Pete Nelson. Nelson earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees at the

. He was a member of the first pledge class of the ''Alpha Pi chapter'' of

Lambda Chi Alpha Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly referred to as Lambda Chi, is a fraternities and sororities, collegiate fraternity in North America. With over 300,000 initiates as of 2024, it is the third-largest social fraternity in the world by number of initia ...

. He was also a member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

. After two years of graduate study at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

, he returned to the University of Denver as an associate professor of chemistry. In 1926, Nelson earned his Doctorate of Philosophy from the University of Illinois.

Career

Throughout his career at the University of Denver, Nelson held many positions. He began his career as an assistant professor in 1923 and served as interim chancellor in 1948. A writer for ''The'' ''Denver Pos''t dubbed him as "The Affable 'Mr. Chips' of Denver University". Nelson was a fellow of the

American Institute of Chemists The American Institute of Chemists (AIC) is an organization founded in 1923 with the goal of advancing the chemistry profession in the United States. The institute is known for its yearly awards recognizing contributions of individuals in this fie ...

and the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

. He was a member of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

; the Colorado Schoolmasters Club,

Phi Delta Kappa PDK International (also known as PDK or Phi Delta Kappa International) is an international professional organization for educators. It was founded on January 24, 1906, at Indiana University. The fraternity administers the collegiate honor society ...

;

Kappa Delta Pi Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society in Education () is an American honor society for education. It was formed in 1911 at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as one of the first discipline-specific honor societies. History Kappa Delta Pi grew out ...

;

Alpha Chi Sigma Alpha Chi Sigma () is a professional fraternity specializing in the fields of the chemical sciences. It has both collegiate and professional chapters throughout the United States consisting of both men and women and numbering more than 78,000 m ...

, and

Phi Lambda Upsilon Phi Lambda Upsilon National Honorary Chemical Society () was founded in 1899 at the Noyes Laboratory of the University of Illinois. Phi Lambda Upsilon was the first honor society dedicated to scholarship in a single discipline, chemistry. Objec ...

Awards

Nelson received numerous awards throughout his career, including the

fraternity Honor Award for Service in Education (1963), the University of Denver College of Engineering Distinguished Faculty Award (1963), and the Evans Award from the University of Denver Alumni Association (1971). The University of Denver gave him an honorary LLD degree in 1964.

Personal life

He died in 1980 at the age of 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Alfred C. 1898 births 1980 deaths Chancellors of the University of Denver Scientists from Salt Lake City University of Illinois alumni University of Denver faculty Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 20th-century American academics