Kurt Nelson, ’07 M.Div.

Rev. Kurt Nelson is Chaplain and Director of Religious & Spiritual Life at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA. He advises Bucknell’s multi-faith and interfaith initiatives; supervises Bucknell’s stellar team of chaplains, coordinators, and liaisons; and leads and coordinates Ecumenical Christian worship in Rooke Chapel on Sunday mornings during the academic term. He is ordained in the United Church of Christ.

Kurt came to Bucknell from Colby College (Waterville, ME) where he spent 6.5 years as Dean of Religious & Spiritual Life. Prior, he served as Assistant Chaplain at Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH). He is a graduate of Yale Divinity School – where he fell in love with Chaplaincy - and St. Olaf College – where he fell in love with Religious Studies. A convert from the Pre-med track at St. Olaf, Kurt will be of limited help in tutoring Organic Chemistry, but is brimming with empathy for all walks of academic life.

Kurt is currently the 4th-most-likable member of his family, following – in no particular order – his wife and partner, Joanna and their children, Lillian & Elliott; (RIP to Grover Dog, who was always the clear #1.) 

Kurt teaches an annual community-engagement-intensive course focused on Food, Faith, and Justice in Baltimore MD.  And Kurt’s abiding intellectual (and practical) interest is development of sense of purpose in and with College Students.