F. Kenneth Nelson

Senior Lecturer II and Research Scientist in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology

F. Kenneth Nelson, BS, Wichita State University; PhD, University of Missouri-Columbia; faculty member at Yale since 1993: You are a dedicated scientist, collaborator, and teacher above all. Through more than three decades of service to Yale, you have demonstrated your commitment to excellence not only in teaching but also as a generous member of the global scientific community and contributor toward building a more inclusive university.

With a patient, calm, and organized teaching style, your courses have long been favorites of undergraduates, many of whom have gone on to become practicing physicians and biomedical research scientists. You were the first at Yale to incorporate lab modules based upon experiments taking place in the labs of MCDB faculty. These innovative, project-based courses offered students the chance to develop critical technical skills while showcasing and advancing the research of Yale scientists. According to a longtime colleague, you were “the first instructor at Yale who made cutting-edge research available to undergraduates in a Yale College course for credit.”

In 1999, you were duly recognized for your outstanding teaching and innovative pedagogy with the Yale College Prize for Teaching Excellence by a Lector or Lecturer, the precursor to today’s Richard H. Brodhead ’68 Teaching Prize.

You have spent countless hours training and assisting other scientists in complex technical processes, including training postdoctoral students, your work at the Flow Cytometry Facility, and your work at Yale’s West Campus Core. Colleagues have described you as kind, committed, and “the most giving person” they know. They said that you were known never to say no when asked for help—you would simply smile, say yes, and immediately begin problem solving.

As a research scientist, you undertook cutting-edge research that reshaped the very field of genome technology. Your work alongside Michael Snyder was truly groundbreaking: creating pioneering genome technology, inventing ChIP-seq to map transcription factor binding sites, and printing the first organism protein array in the world. Your legendary ability to build, fix, and explain the machines that enable spectacular science will also be deeply missed.

Beyond the classroom, you brought seemingly boundless energy to a wide array of initiatives that uplifted other scientists. You have been instrumental to the foundation, growth, and continued success of the Science Technology and Research Scholars (STARS) Program, which supports Yale’s undergraduate STEM students and encourages them to pursue scientific careers post-college.

Another branch of this effort saw you teach courses in the Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (SMDEP) at the Yale School of Medicine. For twenty years you taught courses as part of six-week sessions offered to students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), providing critical skills to future medical practitioners.

Thank you for everything you have done for your Yale students, colleagues, department, and the field of molecular biology as a whole. We hope that in retirement you continue to find joy in cycling, gardening, and connecting with the many people who have benefited from your dedication and expertise.