Tributes Paid Prof. Nelson By Friends, Associates
Tributes Paid Prof. Nelson By Friends, Associates
Friends and associates of Prof.-Emeritus J. Raleigh Nelson, who died Sunday night at his home, 3261 Lohr Rd. at the age of 87, paid tribute today to the founder of the University’s International Center.
"The University mourns with the Ann Arbor community the death of Prof. Nelson, who for 35 years labored diligently and most effectively on behalf of our foreign students,” Erich Walter, secretary of the University, said. “He is remembered by thousands of alumni and to many of them personified the University. Our International Center is a living memorial to Prof. Nelson's ideals and plans."
Prof. Nelson was the University’s first counselor to foreign students and the International Center’s first director, when the center was founded in 1938. Nelson International House at 918 Oakland was named in his honor by University foreign students.
“J. Raleigh Nelson gave a lifetime of devoted attention to the organization and development of our Department of Engineering English,” Dean Stephen S. Attwood of the University’s College of Engineering said. “Many students across the land has appreciated and benefited from his precise and enthusiastic teaching. These, and his many colleagues, mourn his loss.”
Prof. Nelson was chairman of the department of engineering English from 1932 to 1936. He joined the U-M in 1908 as an instructor of English for students in engineering and architecture. A U-M faculty member for 35 years before his retirement in 1943, Prof. Nelson was a pioneer in the development of language instruction for engineering students at the college level.
He was author of books and a volume of poetry. At his death he was writing a second novel dealing with Ironton, Mich. The book lacked only a concluding chapter.