NELSON, J(ohn) Robert 1920-2004

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born August 21, 1920, in Winona Lake, IN; died of complications from cancer July 6, 2004, in Houston, TX. Minister, theologian, educator, and author. Nelson, an ordained Methodist minister who had served as dean at Vanderbilt and Boston universities, was well known as an ethicist who supported civil rights and helped create religious guidelines regarding bioethics and medical ethics. Graduating from DePauw University in 1941 and earning a bachelor's in divinity from Yale University in 1944, Nelson was ordained that year into the Methodist Church. He then served in the U.S. Naval Reserves for two years in the Pacific theater, attaining the rank of lieutenant. Nelson then returned to his studies, attending the University of Zurich, where he received a D.Theol. in 1951 while also working as a director for the Wesley Foundation. During the 1950s, he was involved with the United Student Christian Council and then the World Council of Churches. His academic career began in 1957 as professor of theology and dean of the Divinity School at Vanderbilt University. At this time, the civil rights movement was beginning to show its influence on campuses around the country, and Nelson proved himself to be a staunch supporter of such activism when he quit his job in protest after the university expelled a black student who had organized a sit-in protest. A couple years occupied as a visiting professor were then followed by a three-year period as a theology professor at Oberlin College. Next, Nelson was hired by Boston University as a professor of systematic theology. He remained there until 1984, also serving as dean from 1972 to 1974. While at Boston, Nelson continued his support of civil rights, spurring on both students and faculty to make their voices heard. After leaving Boston, Nelson became head of the Institute of Religion in Houston; it was while there that he was the victim of a murder attempt, surviving a gunshot wound to the head. The attack did nothing to dissuade Nelson from his beliefs, though, which included work in the new field of bioethics during the 1970s and 1980s. During this period, he was an adjunct professorship of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and directed the Institute of Religion at the Texas Medical Center in Houston during the late 1980s. He would later write several books concerning medical ethics, including Science and Our Troubled Conscience (1980), Human Life (1984), and On the New Frontiers of Genetics and Religion (1994). Always seeking to build bridges between those with differing opinions, Nelson also authored One Lord, One Church (1958; revised edition published in 1962 as Overcoming Christian Divisions) and Crisis in Unity and Witness (1968).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, July 13, 2004, section 3, p. 11.

Houston Chronicle, July 12, 2004, p. 3.