Harold Glea Nelson (born March 4, 1943) is an American
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
, consultant and former Nierenberg Distinguished Professor of Design in the
School of Design at
Carnegie Mellon University. In 2001, he served as president of the
International Society for the Systems Sciences
The International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) is a worldwide organization for systems sciences. The overall purpose of the ISSS is:
:"to promote the development of conceptual frameworks based on general system theory, as well as their ...
(ISSS). He is known as the co-author of ''The Design Way'',
[Zimmerman, John, Jodi Forlizzi, and Shelley Evenson.]
through design as a method for interaction design research in HCI
" ''Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems.'' ACM, 2007. a book considered by some to be the Rosetta Stone of Design.
Biography
Youth and education
Nelson was born in 1943 in Western Montana as a fifth generation descendant of Swedish homesteaders. He grew up on a small farm at the foot of the
Bob Marshall Wilderness
The Bob Marshall Wilderness Area is a congressionally-designated wilderness area located in Western Montana region of the United States. It is named after Bob Marshall (1901–1939), an early forester in the federal government, conservationist, a ...
. Upon graduating high school, he enlisted in the US Navy and served four years as a guided missile technician.
After completing his service, he enrolled in
Montana State University, working summers as a fire guard and hotshot with the National
Interagency Hotshot Crew. Nelson received his
Bachelor of Architecture
The Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) is a bachelor's degree designed to satisfy the academic requirement of practising architecture around the world.
Australia
Architectural education in Australia varies depending on the university offering th ...
in 1970 from Montana State University,
where he was member of the
Delta Phi Delta Art and Architecture Honorary Society. He continued to study architecture and ceramic design at the
Technical University
An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...
and
Ateneum Fine Arts Academy in Finland. He continued his architectural education at the University of California Berkeley where he took classes from Christopher Alexander and received his Master of Architecture "with distinction"
in 1973.
At the University of California he continued to study the interface of
systems thinking and design and received his Ph.D. with distinction in 1979. His dissertation, entitled ''Energy Resource Development and Community: Vanishing Community, Bloom Town, Home Town,'' focused on a systems approach to the impact on rural communities of large-scale resource development projects with an emphasis on value distribution assessment.
[Harold G. Nelson: Biographic Overview 2007](_blank)
at archive.org. Retrieved 23-05-2017. In 2015 Dr. Nelson was invited to give a seminar to the design team at the
corporate headquarters of Apple Inc. in California.
Further career
As a licensed architect in the State of California, Nelson worked for seven years as an assistant regional architect for Region Five of the U.S. Forest Service from 1976 to 1982.
In this position he designed and oversaw the construction of two visitor's centers. One of which—Chilao—is now in a National Monument and has become iconic.
Nelson began his teaching career at Texas Tech University as Assistant Professor from 1982 to 1984, where he was awarded the "President's Award for Excellence in Teaching" in 1984.
After another year at the
Montana State University, and two years at the
Saybrook Institute
Saybrook University is a private university in Pasadena, California. It was founded in 1971 by Eleanor Camp Criswell and others. It offers postgraduate education with a focus on humanistic psychology. It features low residency, master's, and ...
, he was core faculty at
Antioch University
Antioch University is a private university with multiple campuses in the United States and online programs. Founded in 1852 as Antioch College, its first president was politician, abolitionist, and education reformer Horace Mann. It changed its ...
from 1987 to 1999, and extended faculty at the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...
from 2002 to at least 2008.
He has been a Senior Lecturer at the Navy Postgraduate School in Monterey California since 2007.
At the Antioch University Nelson served for twelve years as the Director (Department Head) of the Graduate Programs in Whole Systems Design (WSD). One program was recognized by ''U.S. News & World Report'' as among the Top Ten graduate programs in
Organizational Development.
Further, he has been involved with diverse organizations including: non-profits and corporations, state and federal agencies, international governments, and the United Nations. He has consulted, or lectured in: Chile, Turkey, Finland, Sweden, Indonesia, and Australia. He is working as an education consultant for universities, governmental agencies, and business organizations.
The 2003 book by Harold G. Nelson and Erik Stolterman, entitled ''The Design Way: Intentional Change in an Unpredictable World; Foundations and Fundamentals of Design Competence,'' was awarded the Outstanding Book of the Year award by the
Association for Educational Communications and Technology in 2004.
Work
Nelson's research interests are in the fields of
complex systems inquiry, complex organizational systems design, advanced design education in formal and informal settings, deep design/critique and advanced design postulation and axiom development. His focus is in two areas: the first is on the development of design competent organizations, and the second is on innovation leadership.
Nelson is particularly known for the 2003 book ''The Design Way,'' co-authored with Erik Stolterman. John Zimmerman et al. (2007) summarized:
Cucchiara reviewed that which ''The design way : intentional change in an unpredictable world'' charts "a path to navigate complexity in the design of real additions to the world."
Selected publications
Nelson has written one book and more than twenty articles, and has given more than 50 presentations world wide.
[A complete list is given i]
Harold G. Nelson: Biographic Overview 2007
at archive.org. Retrieved 23-05-2017.
* Nelson, Harold G. ''Energy Resource Development and Community: Vanishing Community, Bloom Town, Home Town.'' PhD thesis University of California, Berkeley, 1979.
* Nelson, Harold G. and Erik Stolterman. ''The design way : intentional change in an unpredictable world : foundations and fundamentals of design competence.'' Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Educational Technology Publications. 2003; 2nd edition, 2012.
Articles, a selection:
* Nelson, Harold G. "The Necessity of Being 'Undisciplined' and 'Out of Control': Design Action and Systems Thinking". In: ''Performance Improvement Quarterly'', 1994, Vol. 7, No.3 (22-29).
* Nelson, Harold G. and Erik Stolterman. "The Case for Design; Creating a Culture of Intention". in: ''Educational Technology'', Nov.-Dec. 2000, Vol. XL, No. 6, (29-35).
References
External links
UID Interview - Harold G. Nelson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Harold G.
1943 births
20th-century American architects
Living people
American systems scientists
Carnegie Mellon University faculty
University of Washington faculty
People from Edmonds, Washington
Presidents of the International Society for the Systems Sciences
21st-century American architects