Bio

One of the founding members of the Titan Booster Club, the late Philip Nelson enters the UW-Oshkosh Hall of Fame after nearly 40 years of distinguished service to the university.

Nelson's support for, and love of, UW-Oshkosh athletics was unequivocal. It began when he attended sporting events at the university as a youngster and continued until his death in March of 1998. Nelson knew all the UW-Oshkosh athletic greats and loved to recite their special moments with friends. He enjoyed talking with UW-Oshkosh athletes and coaches about team personnel and their perspectives on the upcoming content.

While many others have strongly supported UW-Oshkosh athletics, Nelson was unique because of his upbeat and high-energy style that created a special presence at home sporting events. In his own special way he was outstanding at promoting the growth and happenings of UW-Oshkosh athletics.

Nelson was a loyal and participate member in various organizational phases of the UW-Oshkosh Titan Booster Club for over 30 years and was a board member of the Hall of Fame Committee for more than 20 years. It is guessed that he served hundreds of donuts at halftime of UW-Oshkosh football games and cooked thousands of brats and hot dogs at Titan Booster Club sponsored events.

Nelson received his bachelor's degree from Oshkosh State Teachers College in 1947 and a law degree from Marquette University in 1951. Nelson, along with his wife, Jean, alumni director at UW-Oshkosh for 23 years until she retired in 1991, received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from UW-Oshkosh at the May 1997 commencement ceremony. The Nelsons were honorary co-chairs of the university's 125th Anniversary Planning Committee in 1997.