Kent Charles "Oz" Nelson (August 13, 1937 – April 6, 2023) was an American businessman who was the chairman and chief executive officer of UPS (

United Parcel Service United Parcel Service (UPS, stylized as ups) is an American multinational corporation, multinational package delivery, shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company ...

), a position he held from November 1989 to December 1996. A native of

Kokomo, Indiana Kokomo ( ) is a city in Indiana and the county seat of Howard County, Indiana, United States. It is the principal city of the Kokomo, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Howard County, the Kokomo-Peru CSA, which includ ...

, Nelson received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

from

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...

in 1959. At Ball State, Oz became a brother of the

Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College (now the University of Richmond), and its national headquarte ...

fraternity. Nelson was chairman of the

Annie E. Casey Foundation The Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) is a charitable foundation focused on improving the well-being of American children according to their ideals. The AECF is one of the dominant organizations in child welfare issues in the U.S., and one of th ...

, the world's largest foundation dedicated to helping disadvantaged children. He served as a director of the

United Way of America United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...

and the United Way of Metropolitan

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. Nelson was active in several educational initiatives: the Partnership for

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

Schools and the

Atlanta Chamber of Commerce The Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce is the chamber of commerce for the Atlanta metropolitan area. It was founded in 1859. History The first Atlanta Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1859, and was chiefly concerned with fighting railroad rate ...

Education Committee. Nelson was also appointed to the

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Governors Education Reform Committee. Nelson served on the Board of Trustees of The Carter Center of

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

and the

Foundation. He was also a member of the board of directors of

Columbia/HCA HCA Healthcare is an American for-profit operator of health care facilities that was founded in 1968. It is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and, as of May 2020, owns and operates 186 hospitals and approximately 2,000 sites of care, including sur ...

Healthcare Corporation and the CDC Foundation. Ball State University had honored him with two awards: the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1991 and the Business Hall of Fame Award in 1990. He received an honorary doctoral degree from Ball State University in 1994. He also received an honorary doctoral degree of management from Kettering University in June 1993. Nelson died from complications of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, on April 6, 2023, at the age of 85.

References

1937 births 2023 deaths Ball State University alumni People from Kokomo, Indiana Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Georgia (U.S. state) {{US-CEO-stub