Born in Minnesota, Nelson grew up on White Bear Lake, north of St. Paul. He attended Macalester College in St. Paul before transferring to the University of Wisconsin, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree. He added a Masters degree in Economics at the University of Maryland.

 

Joining the Foreign Service in 1979, his first overseas posting, in 1982, was as a junior political officer in Montevideo, Uruguay, with the portfolio of covering human rights developments at a time when Uruguay was ruled by a military dictatorship. He remained in Uruguay until 1984. He later held posts in Berlin, Madrid, Bonn, Quito, and Mérida.

 

Nelson was the National Security Council’s Senior Coordinator for the Sea Island G-8 Summit. He also served as Director of the Office of Monetary Affairs, Director of the Iraq Reconstruction Task Force, Director of the Office of Terrorism Finance and Economic Sanctions, Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs.

 

In June 2008, Nelson joined Economic, Energy and Business Affairs (EEB) as its Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, in charge of International Finance and Development. He advanced to the position of EEB’s Acting Assistant Secretary on the day Barack Obama was inaugurated, overseeing a staff of about 200 that was responsible for providing international economic advice to Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton.

 

He and his wife, Gloria, who met when both were posted to Montevideo in 1982, have one son. Nelson speaks Spanish and German.

U.S. Senate Confirms Ambassador Nelson to Uruguay (Department of State)