Harold G. Nelson

Biographic Overview 

Dr. Harold Nelson is the owner of Harold G. Nelson, LLC, a professional systemic design education practice. Most recently he was a visiting scholar in the School of Computer Science at the University of Montana.  He has been a Senior Lecturer in the Graduate School of Business and Public Policy, and School of Defense Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He was the 2009-2010 Nierenberg Distinguished Professor of Design in the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University. . As a consultant, Dr. Nelson has worked with a variety of organizations, including: non-profits and corporations, state and federal agencies, military organizations, international governments, and the United Nations. He works as an educator, designer, and researcher in the field of organizational systemic design and systemic design praxis, where he brings both design expertise and systemic thinking to the study of organizational design and innovation. For twelve years Dr. Nelson was the Director of the Graduate Programs in Whole Systems Design (WSD), which he helped design, at Antioch University. He was a licensed architect in the state of California where he worked as an assistant regional architect in Region 5 of the US Forest Service.

Dr. Nelson received his Ph.D. in Design of Social Systems, graduating with distinction, from the University of California at Berkeley. He designed his doctoral studies program—The Design of Social Systems—where he chose the concomitant faculty. He received his Master of Architecture degree from U.C. Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Architecture from Montana State University.  He is a past-president and a trustee of the International Society for Systems Science; a position previously held by such notables as Ilya Prigogine (Nobel Prize recipient), Sir Geoffrey Vickers,  Russell Ackoff, Margaret Mead, C. West Churchman. He served in the US Navy as a guided missile technician.

In 2004, The Design Way: Intentional Change in an Unpredictable World, a book co-authored with Dr. Erik Stolterman, received the Outstanding Book of the Year award from the Division of Instructional Development of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology. MIT Press published the 2nd edition in 2012. A Chinese language edition was published in 2018 by Posts & Telecom Press in Beijing.

Practice and Consulting Interests

•   facilitating development of design competent individuals, organizations

• assessing and designing organizational systems

•  design leadership development in business, government, institutions and military organizations

•   educational systems design 

 Owner, Harold G Nelson LLC,                               2006-present

Systemic Design Practice and Consulting

• developing competence from a systemic perspective in leadership and management in organizations, networks, and associations  including governmental, business, institutional, and nonprofit groups.

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Education

Montana State University                Architecture                     B. Arch 1970 

University of California/Berkeley   Architecture                      M. Arch 1975                              

University of California/Berkeley   Social Systems Design     Ph. D      1979

U.S. Navy education 1961 - 1965

Guided Missile Technician “A” School                                                                                              

Terrier Guided Missile “C” School                                                                                                    

CM 122/DSM Test Equipment Expert                                                                                                       

Tartar/Terrier Flight Analysis Expert                                                                                      

Research and Scholarly Interests

·   organizational and social system design 

·   scholarship and praxis in systemic design

·   design of systemic design education

·   educational systems design

 Academic Appointments and Affiliations

Administrative

Director (Dept. Chair/Assoc. Dean)                       1987-1999

Graduate Programs in Whole Systems Design, Antioch University              

Designed and directed two Master of Arts Programs in Whole Systems Design:     

    • Master of Arts in WSD Individualized Studies

    • Master of Arts in WSD Organization Systems Renewal

Academic Affiliation

School of Computer Science, University of Montana

Visiting Scholar          2010–20      

Grad. School of Business and Public Policy, Naval Postgraduate School  

Senior Lecturer      2009–2017

School of Defense Analysis, Naval Postgraduate School  

Senior Lecturer      2017

School of Design, Umea University 

Visiting Professor          2012

Umea Sweden

School of Design, Aalto University

Visiting Professor          2011

Helsinki, Finland

School of Design, Carnegie Mellon University

Nierenberg Distinguished Professor of Design          2009-10

UW School of Information, U. of Washington          

Extended Faculty  2002–03

Graduate Programs in Whole Systems Design, Antioch University

Professor                                                                  1989-99

Associate Professor                                                       1987-89

School of Architecture, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT. 

Adjunct Assistant Professor      1984-85

Honors Program, MSU, Bozeman, MT.            1984-85                                   

Assistant Professor                             1982-84

Graduate Program Advisor, School of Architecture                                                

Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX                                       

Research

Affiliate Associate Professor, UW School of Engineering                       2002-10

Adjunct Sr. Researcher, Far West Research Lab, San Francisco CA    1985-87

Researcher, Texas Tech University, Lubbock TX                                            1982-84

Graduate Research Assistant/Technical Specialist,                                          1976-78

Lawrence Berkeley Research Lab, Berkeley CA                                                          

Technical Assistant, Center for Environmental Studies,              1970-71

Montana State University, Bozeman MT

Professional Memberships

International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS)                                        

Offices Held in Professional Associations

Trustee, International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS),                           2002-present

Past President, International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS),                       2001-02

President, International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS),                              2000-01

President-elect, International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS),                      1999-00

Board Member, Future 500                                                                                      1999-03

Board Member, Sustainable Design Institute                                                            1993-94

Member, Fellow, Board Member, International Systems Institute (ISI)                     1992-96             

Board Member, International Federation for Systems Research (IFSR)                     1992-95

Secretary/Treasurer, International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS)                1991-95      

Professional Certifications

Licensed Architect; California C8760

Honors and Awards

“2004  Outstanding Book of The Year” Division of Instructional                                     2004

Development of the Association for Educational Communications and

Technology, USA

President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching,                                                                  1984            

Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX

Delta Phi Delta Art and Architecture Honorary,                                                                1969        

Montana State University, Bozeman, MT

Military Service 1961-65 (active) 1965-67 (inactive)

U.S.Navy                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Guided Missile Technician

Honorable Discharge