Email: snelson AT aaas.org

Stephen D. Nelson, Ph. D.
Associate Director, Directorate for Science and Policy Programs

Stephen D. Nelson is Associate Director of Science and Policy Programs at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In this role he assists the Director in overall operations of the directorate; acts as senior advisor to the R&D Budget and Policy Program and the AAAS Science and Engineering Fellowship Program (details of each given below); organizes the annual AAAS Colloquium on Science and Technology Policy; and serves as staff officer to AAAS's Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy, as well as staff officer for both the AAAS Philip Hauge Abelson Prize and the William D. Carey Lectureship. In addition, he has responsibility for portions of the direct assistance program within the AAAS Research Competitiveness Service.

From 1990 to 1999 he was Program Director of AAAS's Science, Technology and Government Program in the SPP Directorate. Within that overall role, he managed the R&D Budget and Policy Program (including organizing the annual AAAS Colloquium on Science and Technology Policy, and publishing at least 3 volumes per year on federal research and development funding and related science and technology policy issues); and directed the AAAS Science and Engineering Fellowship programs (Congressional; Diplomacy; Overseas Diplomacy; Technology Policy; Risk Policy; Defense Policy; Revelle/Global Stewardship; and Environmental), as well as carrying out numerous other responsibilities. Nelson has co-authored or co-edited 42 volumes published by AAAS on federal funding for research and development and other issues in science and technology policy. From 1984 to 1990 he was Manager of Science Policy Studies at AAAS.

Prior to joining AAAS, Nelson was Senior Professional Associate at the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, working on a study of the organizational structure of the National Institutes of Health. He also served for six years as Administrative Officer for Science and Technology Policy at the American Psychological Association. Before coming to Washington, DC in 1977, Nelson was Project Director at the Center for Research on Utilization of Scientific Knowledge, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. He also taught in both the psychology and sociology departments at Michigan.

Nelson received his B.A. in psychology from Kansas State University, and his Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Michigan.