BA, Gettysburg College, History
MARS, Hartford Seminary
MDiv, Andover Newton Theological School
PhD, University of Connecticut, Professional Higher Education Administration
Stephen J. Nelson is Professor of Education and Educational Leadership at °ÅÀÖÊÓƵ, and a Senior Scholar in the Leadership Alliance at Brown University. At Bridgewater he teaches graduate students in both Masters and CAGS/EdS programs in educational leadership.
He is the author of eight books about the college presidency and the history of the college and university, including his most recent: Searching the Soul of the College and University in America: Religious and Democratic Covenants and Controversies (release fall 2023) and previous to that, John G. Kemeny and Dartmouth College: The Man, The Times and the College Presidency, (2019); The Shape and Shaping of the College and University in America: A Lively Experiment (2016); and Decades of Chaos and Revolution: Showdowns for College Presidents (2014). He holds a PhD from the University of Connecticut in Higher Education and the history and philosophy of higher education, a Master of Divinity from Andover Newton Theological School, a Masters of Arts in Religious Studies from the Hartford Seminary, and a Bachelor of Arts in history from Gettysburg College.
Prior to his tenure as teacher and researcher, Professor Nelson worked for nearly twenty years as a student affairs administrator at Wellesley, Dartmouth, and Bard Colleges. Professor Nelson is also an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ.