Senior Associate Dean Dan Nelson '75 loves the outdoors, as shown by the stuffed moosehead and portraits of the first men to climb Mount Everest on his office walls.
Nelson, a graduate of the College and a dean since 1987, lists experiences in the outdoors, including downhill and back-country skiing, hiking, fishing and canoeing, as one of the most important aspects of his life.
Nelson has brought this passion to the College and has used it to interact with students. Every fall he leads a Dartmouth Outing Club trip for incoming freshmen and has also gone with students on canoeing trips and up to northern Quebec on spring breaks for hiking and mountaineering.
Nelson said he enjoys spending this time with students outside of meetings and committees because it gives him a chance to really talk to them.
"It's a real privilege to be able to hear about their experiences and about what means the most to them," Nelson said.
Nelson will continue to work closely with students when he takes over as acting dean of the College for Lee Pelton this summer. He will serve as acting dean until a new one is appointed.
Pelton described Nelson as someone that both students and faculty respect, and said he will make a "wonderful and terrific dean."
"He understands the need to include students in decisions that affect their experiences at Dartmouth, and I'm confident students will like him," Pelton said.
Pelton said Nelson's work with the DOC and the Ledyard Canoe Club has been extensive and has gained the respect of students.
Nelson believes his job as a dean is to make sure that students experience excellence in both the classroom and in their life outside of class.
The College should challenge students to apply the intellectual skills and attitudes learned in class to their lives outside of the classroom, Nelson said.
"A lot of learning can happen in residential and social life," Nelson said.
Although "no two days are the same," Nelson said he spends his days as a dean holding half-hour appointments and overseeing five different offices of the College. He meets with upperclass deans, other administrators, faculty and students on a daily basis, and tries to make time on his lunch hour for biking or catching up on mail.
As the associate dean, Nelson is responsible for a number of areas of the College, including Safety and Security, the Academic Skills Center, the International Program and the Native American program.
When he assumes the role of acting dean, Nelson will have new responsibilities, including holding weekly meetings with the other deans of the College, meetings with Student Assembly members and the president of the Coed Fraternity and Sorority Council, and speaking to concerned parents.
Pelton said the transition to acting dean for Nelson is a "natural one in many respects," but Nelson sees challenges ahead.
Nelson said he will have to be careful not to move the College in directions that may compromise the vision of the next appointed dean. He must also keep sight of projects he has been working on to make sure that they continue.
As acting dean, Nelson will have to move into a more supervisory role, represent the College at certain events and will have the responsibility of setting overall policy and direction in many areas.
Nelson first came to the College as an undergraduate in the Class of 1975, and majored in English and religion. During the summers, he worked as an Outward Bound instructor and a mountain climbing guide in his home state of Washington, and said he considered pursuing these jobs as a career.
His experiences at the College prompted him to look into higher education and the study of ethics instead. After five years writing and editing for the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, Nelson went to Princeton University for graduate school and worked as an assistant to the master of a residential college.
It was there that Nelson realized his interests lay in teaching, research and working with students. After moving to New Hampshire with his wife and working as a teacher for a year at St. Paul's School in Concord, Nelson became a class dean at the College.
Nelson says his experiences as an undergraduate, as well as encouragement from faculty members, helped him to think critically and to pursue a career as an administrator.
Being encouraged as a student to challenge his beliefs and to become committed to learning and excellence was "terribly exciting and influential," Nelson said.
Nelson said his plans for the future are to stay at the College and to learn and grow from working with students and colleagues. He lives in Hanover with his wife and two children and said spending time with them is an important part of his life.
In addition, Nelson said one of his "unsatisfied life's ambitions is to learn to play the accordion." Since his wife bought him an accordion for his 40th birthday, Nelson said he has been struggling to learn.
Nelson said Yolanda Romagnolo, Advisor to Latino and Hispanic Students, has been giving him lessons.
"I'm a poor learner and have lost steam, but I'll eventually do it," Nelson said.
