Edward G. Nelson

Edward G. Nelson, a trustee since 1979, becoming trustee emeritus in 2007, received his B.A. degree from the University of the South in Sewanee with a major in political science. He joined military intelligence and served as a resident agent in Japan from 1953 to 1955.

In 1955, he became vice president of Clark, Landstreet and Kirkpatrick Investment Banking. He joined Commerce Union Bank in 1964 as a vice president and became president in 1972. In 1982, he began his tenure as chairman and chief executive officer of Commerce Union Corporation. After twenty years with Commerce Union, he formed Nelson Capital Corporation, a diversified merchant banking firm, where he serves as chairman and president.
In 1989, the Japanese government appointed Mr. Nelson the Honorary Consul General of Japan. He has also been honored with the Alexis de Tocqueville Society Award, the Leukemia Society Service Award, and the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Distinguished Service Award.
He has served on the boards of such organizations as Southlife Holding, Humboldt Express, Commerce Union Corporation, the Nashville Scene, the Nashville branch of the Federal Reserve Bank, Osborn Communications, and A+ Communications.

He continues to serve on the boards of Bucyrus International, Inc., Trans Arabian Investment Bank (Bahrain), Consumers Insurance, Ohio Star Forge (a subsidiary of Daido Steel, Tokyo), and Werthan Packing, Inc.. He also serves on the board of several civic organizations.

He and his wife, Carole, are the parents of Carole Nelson Kirkland, Emme Nelson Baxter, and Ellen Nelson.