Katherine Greacen Nelson

Katherine Greacen Nelson (December 9, 1913 – December 29, 1982). Nelson spent a great deal of her later years teaching at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, not only teaching at the university but children and political figures as well. In 1978 Nelson received the Neil Miner Award for her many contributions to teaching earth sciences and was the first woman ever to win this award. She published many scholarly papers but was most well known for her love of teaching. In 1982 she died from cancer.

Nelson received her bachelor at Vassar College by 1934, winning a prize for excellence in geology. Four years later did her Ph.D. at Rutgers University, from which she was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. Dr Nelson went directly into teaching at Milwaukee-Downer College where she was the curator at Greene Geological Museum while she was teaching. In 1943 she left teaching and went into petroleum geology and paleontology as a way to help out with the war. She began working with Shell Oil Co. and then transitioned to a different oil company known as Hunt Oil Co. After WW II she returned back to Milwaukee-Downer to be a professor in geology and geography. She also spent some time teaching at the Milwaukee-Downer Seminary and the YWCA. Nelson took the initiative for the University to buy the Greene Museum from Milwaukee-Downer. She also started a public education program at the museum, taking an initiative to increase to educate to the less wealthy population. Her teaching has been her most important and lasting contribution to Geology. In 1956 she started to work at the University of Wisconsin where she was one of the contributors and chairs of the Department of Geological & Geophysical Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Although she spent much of her time teaching and being involved in the community, she authored a paper detailing an analysis of the age of the Vincentown formation in New Jersey in regards to the Cretaceous and Tertiary relationships of bryozoa.

As a female in geology she made many first female steps in her field. She was the fist women to graduate with a Ph.D from Rutgers University. She received the Midwest Federation of Mineralogical & Geological Societies Educator of the Year Award in 1982 while she was working as a professor at University of Wisconsin. Nelson was the first woman recipient of the Neil Milner Award from the National Association of Geology Teachers. She was also elected as the president of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, & Letters and was the first women to have this position. Nelson's influences on teaching are more significant than the research she did or what her findings were but equally as important and significant to geology. The Nelson Award was created to honour her contribution to education in geology.

Dr. Nelson was invested in helping out the general population throughout the entirety of her career. She believed that everyone should gain an understanding of their surroundings and appreciate the wonder of geologic processes. Nelson accomplished this by putting a great amount of effort and energy into presenting public lectures to anyone she could find that would listen, being a tour guide to school children both in the field and in museums, becoming deeply entrenched in the media writing newspaper articles as well as giving media interviews, as well as helping geology hobbyists. She was influential in the area of preserving glaciers as she explained the importance of Wisconsin's glacial feature to politicians, which would later lead to the establishment of the National Ice Age Scientific Reserve. Throughout all of this, Nelson inspired a new generation of geological interest in students.

Nelson was passionate about the earth. She believed that the earth is a remarkable place which should be understood, appreciated and enjoyed by the people. Other than teaching, she did not hesitate to help others on exploring the earth. Everyone with whom she came in contact could receive the warmth, enthusiasm and joy from her. In front of people, Nelson was the kind lady who always wore a beautiful smile on her face. From her students' perspectives, Nelson was the best model of a college professor.