Richard E. Nelson Chair in Local Government

Richard E. Nelson

Richard E. Nelson was born on Aug. 20, 1930, in Cincinnati. He received his bachelor’s degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1952 and his juris doctor from the University of Florida in 1955. He was accepted to the Florida Bar in 1955 and practiced in all state and federal courts in Florida, in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Nelson also served as the president of the Florida Association of County Attorneys in 1967, president of the Sarasota County Bar Association in 1972, president of the Florida Council of Bar Association Presidents and chairman of the Local Government Law Section of the Florida Bar in 1975.

Nelson served as a director and president of Independent Bank and was a director and general counsel for Enterprise National Bank of Sarasota. He served for nearly 20 years as a member of the Board of Trustees of New College Foundation in Sarasota and in 1992 was elected to the Board of Trustees at the UF Law Center.

Nelson and his wife, Jane, had a son, Edward, and daughter, Mary. Jane earned a bachelor’s degree from UF in 1956. Richard E. Nelson passed away on Dec. 14, 2002.