Dr. Randy J. Nelson To Lead Neuroscience

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Randy J. Nelson, PhD, as the Chair of the Department of  Neuroscience effective September 1. Dr Nelson has been appointed as a tenured Professor and will hold the John D. and E. Olive Brumbaugh Chair in Neuroscience.  He will also direct the Behavioral Phenotyping Core at the BRT.  Dr. Nelson is Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology and a member of the Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research, OSUMC College of Medicine.    He recently served as co-director for the Neuroscience Graduate Studies Program.

Dr. Nelson was recognized as a Distinguished Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at The Ohio State University in February, 2009. The University Distinguished Lecture Series was inaugurated in 1996 as one of the University's highest honors for a senior faculty member. The lectureship is awarded in recognition of outstanding academic achievement, particularly, but not exclusively, in research, scholarship, or creative activity. The President's and Provost's Advisory Committee reviews nominations and recommends candidates to the President and the Provost for final selection.

Dr. Nelson earned his AB degree in Psychology in 1978 at the University of California at Berkeley. He began his graduate career at Berkeley with work on canine behavioral sex differentiation with Dr. Frank Beach. After receiving his MA in Psychology in 1980, he began focusing on circadian rhythms and photoperiodism with Dr. Irving Zucker. He earned a PhD in Psychology in 1983, as well as a second PhD in Endocrinology in 1984 from the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Nelson then went on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship in reproductive physiology with Drs. Frank Bronson and Claude Desjardins at the Institute for Reproductive Biology at the University of Texas, Austin from 1984-1986.

Dr. Nelson served on the faculty at The Johns Hopkins University from 1986 until 2000 where he was Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He joined the faculty at OSU in the fall of 2000. Dr. Nelson has published nearly 300 research articles and several books describing studies in seasonality, behavioral endocrinology, biological rhythms, stress, immune function, sex behavior, and aggressive behavior.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Nelson as Chair of the Department of Neuroscience.