Alvin J. Nelson Jr.'s professional life has been rich and varied. Starting out armed with a bachelor's degree in Mathematics from Brigham Young University in 1959, he worked with consulting organizations. His associations as a consultant include Stanford Research Institute, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin. Al returned to college life to pursue a Master's degree which he earned at Stanford University in 1964. Seeking more education, he also has advanced doctoral work in Mathematics from Montana State University. Uniquely qualified from his formal education and consulting, he taught in the Montana State University system for several years. In 1969, Al was honored with a National Science Foundation Science Faculty Fellowship.

  ;  Wishing to broaden his work experiences, Al has also worked as a computer programmer, statistician, computational modeler, quantitative methods specialist in hazardous waste management and with formal systematic decision analysis. Once again, higher education beckoned, this time in the form of the University of Idaho at Idaho Falls. Al taught math courses at all levels from 1985-1995. During the same time period, Al earned a Master's from UI in Hazardous Waste Management. In 1995, he retired from Lockheed-Martin.

  ;  Very active in his retirement, Al is now engaged in research on formal explicit declaration of the underlying assumptions that form the foundations of the scientific method. The University of Idaho at Idaho Falls wishes to thank him for his dedication and expertise as an educator by awarding him the Outstanding Affiliate Faculty Award.