Brent Nelsen is an American political science professor at

Furman University Furman University is a private university in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1826 and named after Baptist pastor Richard Furman, the Liberal arts college, liberal arts university is the oldest private institution of higher l ...

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most pop ...

. There, he currently serves as the Jane Fishburne Hipp Professor of Politics and International Affairs and the Director of The Tocqueville Center for the Study of Democracy and Society. He has taught at Furman since 1990. Nelsen completed his undergraduate study at Wheaton College and earned his master's and doctorate in political science at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

. His teaching and research focus on

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and the

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, with an emphasis on the role of religion in politics. He also publishes on European energy policy. His recent publications include *Religion and the Struggle for European Union: Confessional Culture and the Limits of Integration* (with James L. Guth, 2015) and *The North Sea System for Petroleum Production: State Intervention on the British and Norwegian Continental Shelves* (with Tina Soliman Hunter, 2023). In public service, Nelsen ran unsuccessfully for the position of

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

State Superintendent of Education in 2010.

Governor

Nikki Haley Nimarata Nikki Randhawa Haley (''née'' Randhawa; born January 20, 1972) is an American politician and diplomat who served as the 116th governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017 and as the 29th U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from Ja ...

appointed him chair of the

South Carolina Educational Television South Carolina Educational Television (branded South Carolina ETV, SCETV or simply ETV) is a state network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is operated by the South Carolina Educational Television C ...

Commission in 2011. He was reappointed to an additional six-year term in 2014 before resigning in 2019. On April 25, 2013, U.S. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

nominated Nelsen to the

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, a nomination confirmed by the

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on August 1, 2013. He served on the board until 2016. Nelsen has also held academic leadership roles. He served as chair of the Furman Department of Political Science from 2003 to 2009. He was president of the South Carolina Political Science Association from 2009 to 2010 and of Christians in Political Science from 2004 to 2006. He is married to Lori Nelsen and they have three children and two grandchildren.

Bibliography

*The North Sea System for Petroleum Production: State Intervention on the British and Norwegian Continental Shelves, with Tina Soliman Hunter (UK: Edward Elgar, 2024). *Religion and the Struggle for European Union: Confessional Culture and the Limits of Integration, with James L. Guth (Georgetown University Press, 2015). *The European Union: Readings on the Theory and Practice of European Integration, eds. Brent F. Nelsen and Alexander C-G. Stubb (Boulder, Col.: Lynne Rienner Publishers). First Edition, 1994; Second Edition, 1998; Third Edition, 2003; Fourth Edition, 2014. *Norway and the European Community: The Political Economy of Integration, ed. Brent F. Nelsen (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1993). *The State Offshore: Petroleum, Politics, and State Intervention on the British and Norwegian Continental Shelves (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1991).

References

University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Furman University faculty Living people Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni 1959 births American political scientists People from Grand Haven, Michigan {{US-polisci-bio-stub