Cary Nelson

Cary Nelson (born 1946) is an American professor emeritus of English and Jubilee Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was president of the American Association of University Professors between 2006 and 2012.

Education In 1967, Nelson graduated from Antioch College. In 1970, he received a Ph.D. in English from the University of Rochester.

Career Since the 1990s, Nelson has increasingly focused on issues in higher education. In the words of Alan Wald, "With the appearance of Manifesto of a Tenured Radical in 1997. Nelson became an example of the committed scholar who conceived of the advance of his own career in the context of the amelioration of the rank-and-file of the academic community; more specifically, graduate students, part-time employees, and campus workers."

From 2000 to 2006, Nelson was the second vice president of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). He was elected to a two-year term as president and was re-elected until 2012. In April 2006, Nelson was arrested, along with over 50 others, including Jane Buck, the outgoing president of the AAUP, as part of a unionization effort by New York University's graduate teaching assistants.

In 2014, Nelson supported the University of Illinois' decision to withdraw a job offer to Steven Salaita, an "American studies scholar active in the Israel boycott movement." Nelson has also written on antisemitism, antizionism, and academic freedom, including the 2022 article "Does Academic Freedom Protect Antisemitism?—Part II: Social Media, Antizionism, and the End of Academic Freedom" in the Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism.

Published works As of 2024, Nelson is an Inside Higher Ed columnist. He has published or edited 25 books, including Manifesto of a Tenured Radical and Revolutionary Memory: Recovering the Poetry of the American Left.

Nelson's academic focus is on modern American poetry. He has also published books criticizing boycotts of Israel, including the BDS movement. Hate Speech and Academic Freedom: The Antisemitic Assault on Basic Principles. Academic Studies Press, 2024. College Zionists Confront the Abyss: The Aftermath of October 7 in Higher Education and Its Consequences for Progressive Politics. Academic Studies Press, 2026.