Fred Kenelm Nielsen (April 22, 1879 – January 12, 1963) was a

Danish-American Danish Americans () are Americans who have ancestral roots originated fully or partially from Denmark. There are approximately 1,300,000 Americans of Danes, Danish origin or descent. Most Danes who came to the United States after 1865 did so ...

lawyer, diplomatic official, and

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach. Nielsen served as the head football coach at the Maryland Agricultural College—now known as the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

—from 1905 to 1906, the

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

from 1907 to 1908,

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

from 1910 to 1911, and the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

from 1915 to 1916.

Early life

Nielsen was born in

Slagelse Slagelse () is a town on Zealand (Denmark), Zealand, Denmark. The town is the seat of Slagelse Municipality, and is the biggest town of the municipality. It is located 15 km east of Korsør, 16 km north-east of Skælskør, 33 km south-east of Ka ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

on April 22, 1879. He emigrated to

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

ASSISTANT SOLICITOR NAMED
, ''The Christian Science Monitor'', p. 15, December 2, 1913. with his parents the following year."The Solicitor for the State Department: Fred K Nielsen"
''The American Journal of International Law'', Vol. 17, No. 2 (Apr., 1923), pp. 307-309, American Society of International Law. Nielsen attended the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, from which he graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in 1902 and a

LL. B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in 1904. During college, he played on the Cornhuskers football team as a halfback, and earned a

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. A person who ...

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...

Professional career

Nielsen started his career with the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

in 1904. In 1905, the

Maryland Agricultural College The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Universi ...

(now the University of Maryland) hired Nielsen as its head football coach. He replaced its previous coach, D. John Markey, who had quit after the school denied an increase to the job's $300 salary. Nielsen tolerated the low pay, however, because of his full-time job with the State Department.David Ungrady,
Tales from the Maryland Terrapins
', 2003, p. 14, Sports Publishing LLC, . During his two years at Maryland, the Aggies posted an 11–7 record.All-Time Coaching Records by Year
, College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved 15 January 2009. He continued coaching college football part-time in the Washington area. From 1907 to 1908, Nielsen was the head coach at the

. In his first year there, the Hatchetites posted a poor 2–5–1 record, but improved to 9–1–1 the following season, which was enough to clinch the

South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association The South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SAIAA) was an intercollegiate athletic conference with its main focus of promoting track and field, track and arranging track meets. Its member schools were located in the states of Maryland, ...

(SAIAA) championship.

Curley Byrd Harry Clifton "Curley" Byrd (February 12, 1889 – October 2, 1970) was an American university administrator, educator, athlete, coach, and politician. Byrd began a long association with the University of Maryland as an undergraduate in 1905, and ...

, "Foot Ball in Washington, D.C."
''Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide''
p. 195,

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

, 1915. Nielsen then coached at

from 1910 to 1911. In that period, his teams posted a 14–2–2 record and outscored their opponents 438–57. Georgetown's losses came at the hands of undefeated, untied, and unscored upon

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

and the Carlisle Indians led by

Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe (; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete who won Olympic gold medals and played professional American football, football, baseball, and basketball. A citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was ...

. Georgetown secured the SAIAA championship both years of Nielsen's tenure. At the same time, Nielsen studied at the

Georgetown University Law School Georgetown University Law Center is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment, with over ...

, and received a

Master of Law A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

degree in 1906. In 1913, Nielsen was named the Assistant Solicitor of the Department of State. In 1914, he was assigned as a

plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of a sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word can als ...

during discussions in

Christiania, Norway Oslo ( or ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of towns and cities in Norway, most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a Counties of Norway, county and a Municipalities of Norway, municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a populat ...

of a

Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipel ...

government. As the assistant solicitor, Nielsen did not intend to continue coaching, but in 1915, the

implored him to take over its ailing football program. He helmed the Cardinals from 1915 to 1916, and compiled a 9–6 record.Varsity success (1910-50)
, All-time Football Results, The Catholic University of America, retrieved February 13, 2009. In 1918, Nielsen served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

until

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...

and attained the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. He represented the United States at the

1919 Paris Peace Conference Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Bratislava, Pressburg (later Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY Iolaire, HMY '' ...

, and was the primary American representative in a commission re-examining Belgian treaty obligations of 1839. Nielsen served on the committee that decided the sovereignty of the Spitsbergen archipelago. On June 23, 1920, President Wilson appointed Nielsen as the Solicitor of the State Department, the department's chief legal officer. Nielsen resigned from that position in 1922, and later that year, President Harding nominated him as the American representative for the British-American Claims Commission. Nielsen later served as the American commissioner of the Mexican Claims Commission, which existed from 1924 to 1937 to settle disputes between the two nations. In 1931, he resigned from that post "in disgust" at the actions of some of the Mexican and Panamanian delegates.U. S. ASKS MEXICO TO KEEP CLAIMS TREATIES ALIVE
, ''The Chicago Tribune'', p. 18, August 5, 1931. Nielsen died on January 12, 1963.''Proceedings of the American Society of International Law at its annual meeting''
p. 260,

American Society of International Law American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

, 1963.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Arlington National Cemetery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Fred 1879 births 1963 deaths Diplomats for the United States American football halfbacks American lawyers Catholic University Cardinals football coaches Georgetown Hoyas football coaches George Washington Colonials football coaches Georgetown University Law Center alumni Maryland Terrapins football coaches Nebraska Cornhuskers football players United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army officers United States Department of State officials Players of American football from Omaha, Nebraska People from Slagelse Coaches of American football from Nebraska Danish emigrants to the United States