Gaylord Nelson

Gaylord Nelson, Gamma Nu (LaGrange), was initiated into Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity on April 21, 1971. After graduating from law school in 1942, Nelson served in the U.S. Army during World War II. When he returned to the United States in 1946, he began practicing law in Madison, Wisconsin. In 1948, he was elected to his first term as a Wisconsin state senator. In 1958, he started the first of two terms he would serve as Wisconsin’s governor. In 1962, Nelson was elected to serve as a U.S. senator for the first of his three terms. In 1963, he proposed a national tour to promote conservation and environmental protection, which he then accompanied President John F. Kennedy on.

In 1969, Nelson, a Wisconsin senator, was fed up with his political colleagues’ lack of interest in environmental protection issues. He turned to the American people, urging them to care about the environment. Nelson proposed April 22, 1970, as a day for all Americans to unite and express their concern for the world around them. This day, coined “Earth Day,” gained exceptional support and forced Nelson’s colleagues to realize the true significance of the issues for which he had such keen interest. On the second annual Earth Day, as he continued to rally behind his mission, Nelson visited LaGrange College and found a group of young, like-minded individuals in the Gamma Nu Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi. He became an alumni initiate of the chapter on April 21, 1971. Aside from creating a holiday that is still celebrated more than 50 years later, Nelson’s Earth Day movement spurred lasting change and secured environmentalism’s place as an issue at the forefront of the country’s political landscape. As he once said, “The most important environmental issue is one that is rarely mentioned, and that is the lack of conservation ethic in our culture.” Thanks to his work, the conversation on a once rarely mentioned issue has been ongoing for more than 50 years.

After leaving the Senate in 1981, Nelson’s efforts for the environment continued through his work as a counselor for The Wilderness Society for 14 years. In 1995, President Bill Clinton awarded Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of Earth Day. “In establishing Earth Day, Gaylord Nelson helped us to recognize that our fragile environment was increasingly at peril and that each of us could make a difference. His work has inspired all Americans to take responsibility for the planet’s well-being and for our children’s future,” said Clinton. “As the father of Earth Day, he is the grandfather of all that grew out of that event: the Environmental Protection Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act [and] the Safe Drinking Water Act.”

Although he is known primarily for his work with environmental causes, Nelson also strongly supported other causes, including civil rights and civil liberties. He advocated for pharmaceutical drug companies to be required to prove the safety and efficacy of their drugs and for the inclusion of side-effect disclosure inserts. He led efforts to authorize the White House Conference on Small Business and was a champion for the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

Nelson entered the Chapter Eternal on July 3, 2005, at age 89.

Highlights

• Founder of “Earth Day”
• Presidential Medal of Freedom (1995)
• Ansel Adams Conservation Award (1990)
• Only One World Award – United Nations Environment Programme (1992)
• Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, renamed the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies (2002)
• Former Governor of Wisconsin
• Former United States Senator
• Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame Inductee (1986)