Donald F. Nelson

I grew up with my Dad, Ted Emerson, Psi U Class of 1956, telling me stories of how "Don Nelson is the smartest person I ever knew," and how they had a group of 4 at the Psi U House in Ann Arbor (Univ of Michigan) who used to play bridge for 20-30 minutes before every lunch and every dinner and then again for 20-30 minutes after every lunch and every dinner. I always thought that just sounded so civilized and wonderful. I know my Dad was saddened to hear of Dr Don Nelson's passing, send his wife Mickie his deepest sympathy and respects, and remembers the times he and my Mom (who passed away in 2017) used to visit them on the Cape. Sounds like a terrific friendship and lifelong.

I remember a talk Don gave about the unexpected results from a study of how radon exposure related to lung-cancer risk. The work was very careful and detailed, with appropriate controls and statistics. He and his co-authors had trouble finding a publisher for the results that did not agree with the expectations at the time. However, they persisted and eventually they published "Thompson, R. E., Nelson, D. F., Popkin, J. H., & Popkin, Z. (2008). Case-control study of lung cancer risk from residential radon exposure in Worcester County, Massachusetts. Health physics, 94(3), 228-241." Good work, Don! And rest in peace.

-Nancy Burnham, Physics Department, WPI

We knew Don as a sweet and lovely person. We are so sorry for Micki and family.