Glen Nelson of Brainerd narrowly escaped capture and the notorious Bataan Death March in the Philippines in 1941. He served in all three theaters of operation during World War II as a tank commander, returning home to Minnesota in 1945.
Eager to take advantage of the G.I. Bill of Rights to obtain a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, he discovered that Minnesota had no veterinary college, and those located in other states could not accommodate out-of-state students. Undaunted, Glen enrolled in the University of Minnesota's Animal Husbandry program, and began a crusade to obtain funding to establish a veterinary school on the St. Paul Campus. He received his DVM degree in 1951, a member of the first graduating class of the new school. Dr. Nelson returned to the University in the 1960s as a member of the diagnostics laboratory staff, where he worked until his retirement in 1992.
Publisher: Glen H. Nelson, used with permission.
Dates: 1945–1955
