Eleanor Nelsen

Responsibilities

Eleanor's primary responsibilities include assisting with the coordination and preparation of large collaborative research proposals, developing and curating resources to assist researchers in proposal development, and managing other initiatives designed to equip research faculty for greater success in pursuing funding, such as the Research Development Seminar Series. 

Background

Before joining Research and Innovation, Nelsen was the director of strategic development at the Virginia Tech Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science, where she worked with internal and external partners to advance funding opportunities and direct strategic initiatives and major projects. Nelsen assumed that role after eight years as the institute’s director of communications. She serves on committees for strategic communications and diversity, inclusion, equity, and access for the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI); she is also a board member for AUVSI’s regional Ridge & Valley chapter. 

Education

Nelsen earned a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.