Nelson died May 2, 2014, at age 67.

He prepared at Clayton (Mo.) High School, where he was active in theater and the school paper. At Princeton, he majored in the Woodrow Wilson School and participated in orchestra and intramural sports. Nelson founded the International Law Society and ate at Key and Seal.

He did graduate work at Harvard’s school of government and moved to Washington, D.C., in 1973 to work for the Urban Institute. There he wrote about citizen participation and the environment, including a text titled “Citizen Involvement in Land Use Governance: Issues and Methods,” and other publications.

Nelson subsequently established the Center for Responsive Governance, through which he founded the Journal of Community Action, established neighborhood-development demonstration programs, and set up the Community Health Facilities Fund.

He was an avid cyclist and rode the Tour De France alpine route in 2007 prior to the official teams. Nelson founded numerous software companies, including Future Forecaster, PSIMedica, Consumer Health Advisers, and My Healthy World.

He is survived by his wife, Barbara; sons Joshua and Daniel ’99; daughters-in-law Julia and Eryn; brother Larry; and grandchildren Sofia, Leo, and Julian. To them, the class extends its deepest sympathy.

Undergraduate Class of 1968