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 Bridgewater State University, 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.