Niel B. Nielson (born 1954 in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

) is former president of

Covenant College Covenant College is a private, liberal arts, Christian college in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, located near Chattanooga, Tennessee. As the college of the Presbyterian Church in America, Covenant teaches subjects from a Reformed theological w ...

Lookout Mountain, Georgia Lookout Mountain is a city entirely within Walker County, Georgia, United States. Bordering its sister town of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, Lookout Mountain is part of the Chattanooga metropolitan statistical area. The population was 1,641 at t ...

Education

He holds a B.A. in philosophy from Wheaton College in

Wheaton, Illinois Wheaton is a suburban city in Milton and Winfield Townships and is the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois. It is located approximately west of Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 52,894, which was estimated ...

, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

Professional life

He began his career as an assistant professor of philosophy at Bethel College in

Arden Hills, Minnesota Arden Hills is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 9,552 at the 2010 census. Bethel University and Seminary is located in the city of Arden Hills. Also, the campus of University of Northwestern – St. Paul ...

, but soon departed for the world of business. Between 1984 and 1997, he served as an executive officer in various Chicago based companies, including for two years as Senior Vice President of

Chicago Research and Trading Group The Chicago Research and Trading Group was a futures and options trading firm. It was founded in 1977, by Joe Ritchie and was bought out by NationsBank NationsBank was one of the largest banking corporations in the United States, based in Cha ...

, Ltd. From 1996 to 1997, he worked as partner and trader for Ritchie Capital Markets Group, LLC. He holds several investment company directorships, including 13 directorships of closed-end funds associated with the First Trust group of funds, 39 directorships of exchange-traded funds associated with the First Trust group of funds, and one directorship of the First Defined Portfolio Fund LLC.''Niel Nielson, Covenant Transport, Forbes.com profile''
/ref> In 1997, he left the business sector to become Associate Pastor of Outreach for

College Church College Church is an evangelical non-denominational church in Wheaton, Illinois founded in 1861 by the abolitionist and first president of Wheaton College Jonathan Blanchard. College Church is located across two city blocks facing the Wheaton Co ...

in Wheaton, Illinois, where he remained until 2002, when he became the fifth president of

.
Covenant College webpage, accessed May 8, 2011 He resigned as president in July 2012. He was succeeded by J. Derek Halvorson. During his Covenant presidency, he served on the boards of directors for Good News Publishers, Good News Publishers/Crossway Books, Allied Arts of Chattanooga, the

Chattanooga Symphony and Opera The Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, also known as CSO, is a combined symphony orchestra and opera company in Chattanooga, Tennessee. At the time of the merger in 1985, it was the only such combined organization in the United States. The CSO also of ...

, and Covenant Transportation Group, Inc., where he functioned as chairman of its compensation committee. In November 2009, Nielson signed an ecumenical statement known as the ''

Manhattan Declaration Manhattan Declaration can refer to: * Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience, an American Christian cross-denominational declaration addressing a number of political issues in 2009 * Manhattan Declaration on Climate Change, a d ...

'' calling on Evangelicals, Catholics and Orthodox not to comply with rules and laws permitting abortion, same-sex marriage and other ideals that go against their religious doctrines.Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience

Personal life

Nielson is married to Kathleen (née Buswell), and, together, they have three grown sons. Kathleen is the granddaughter of former Wheaton College president,

J. Oliver Buswell James Oliver Buswell, Jr. (January 16, 1895 – February 4, 1977) was a Presbyterian theologian, educator and institution builder. Education Buswell was born in Burlington, Wisconsin. He received an A.B. from the University of Minnesota (1917), a ...

. A Wheaton alum, Kathleen also holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in English literature from

, and has written many popular Bible studies.

References

Living people 1954 births {{US-academic-administrator-1950s-stub