Nelson, James C., 1908-

Transportation economist, Washington State University.

Professor Emeritus James Cecil Nelson, internationally known transportation economist, was born in Bickleton, Washington, on October 5, 1908. Nelson received his B.A. from the University of Washington in 1930, his M.A. from Ohio State University in 1931, and his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 1934. Nelson was a Dupont fellow, 1932-1934, and also a research fellow at the Brookings Institution from 1933 to 1934. After receiving his doctorate, Nelson served on the faculties of several universities and also worked for more than a year with the Washington Department of Public Service. In 1938 Nelson joined the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, U.S. Department of Agriculture, as a senior transportation economist. In 1941 he became the principal transportation economist with the National Resources Planning Board.

During the Second World War, Nelson worked with a number of Federal agencies. He served first as assistant director in charge of regulatory policy studies, Division of Economic Studies, Board of Investigation and Research (1941-1944), and later as assistant director, Division of Review and Special Studies, Office of Defense Transportation (1944-1945). Before returning to academic life in 1947, he served as chief of the Transportation Division, Office of Domestic Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce (1945-1947).

In 1947 Nelson joined the faculty of Washington State University as professor of economics and transportation in the Department of Economics, a position he held until his retirement in September 1974. In addition to his teaching, research, and writing at WSU, Nelson served as a consultant for the Washington State Legislature's Joint Fact-Finding Committee on Highways, Streets, and Bridges, as well as the Legislative Research Committee of the North Dakota Legislature (1948-1952). He also served as a consultant for, among others: the Royal Commission on Transportation, Alberta, Canada (1960); the Federation of Nigeria (1960-1961); the Royal Government of Afganistan (1963); Pembina Pipe Line Limited, Calgary, Alberta (1961, 1962); A.T.and S.F.; Railway (1961-1968); American Automobile Manufacturers Association (1966); and the Pacific Island Tariff Bureau (1969). In 1956-1957, Nelson was a senior staff member at the Brookings Institution. He also served as visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin (1964), University of British Columbia (fall, 1975), and Monash University, Melbourne, Australia (1975). Nelson's research has resulted in numerous articles in professional journals and a number of books, among which are: Railroad Transportation and National Policy (1959), Transportation Problems and Policies in the Trans-Missouri West (1967), The Future of American Transportation (1971), Perspectives on Regional Transportation Planning (1973), Perspectives on Federal Transportation Policy (1975), and Railway Pricing under Commercial Freedom: The Canadian Experience (1977).