Dr. Curtis B. Nelson Memorial Scholarship

Dr. Curtis “Curt” Nelson spent only 10 years on the faculty of CLC (1965-1975), but he definitely made his mark during that time. He served as chair of the department of biological sciences following the early death of his predecessor, Dr. A. Weir Bell. Dr. Nelson led the department with distinction, leaving to become the director of scientific research at the American Heart Association. Ironically, he died in 1987 after a long illness and heart bypass surgery. He was only 55.

Curt Nelson, a Norwegian, was born in 1931 and raised in Minneapolis. In high school he was senior class president and varsity basketball captain. He enrolled at Gustavus Adolphus College, but his life as a student was interrupted by a stint with the U.S. Air Force. He graduated in 1956. After two years of teaching and coaching Curt spent a year at the University of Colorado under National Science Foundation Academic Year Fellowship, receiving his M.S. degree in stress physiology in 1963. He earned his Ph.D. in cardiac physiology from the University of Oregon five years later.

Following the announcement of Dr. Nelson’s death, friends and colleagues at CLU established a memorial scholarship in his name. But it was his mother Mildred Peterson who ultimately created the endowment for the award. And it was his lifelong friend from graduate school, Dr. Charles Gray, who kept contributing to the scholarship for more than 25 years.

Two of his friends wrote a tribute to Dr. Nelson following his death. In their tribute they painted a picture of a man whose “life was one of value and purpose, risk and reward, above all, great joy in being and sharing.” Others observed that “Curt’s life and career at Cal Lutheran helped shape a personal philosophy reflecting a faith in God manifested in beauty.”

Dr. Curtis Nelson certainly helped get CLC’s biological sciences department off to a strong start, and his scholarship has continued to help build CLU’s outstanding reputation in the area by assisting talented students in the major. The endowed Dr. Curtis B. Nelson Memorial Scholarship is awarded annually to an academically strong student who is majoring in the biological sciences and who is preferably, but not necessarily, Lutheran.