C. Michael Nelson has been a leader in special education for decades. When I asked him about using this photo, he replied, “The photo looks fine. Better than fine, in fact, as I actually had a bit more hair back then.” I think that’s true, Mike, for most of the guys in our group.

Mike was a professor of special education at the University of Kentucky. Among his many accomplishments, he co-authored (with M. M. Kerr) one of the best textbooks about methods for helping students with emotional and behavioral disorders. He collaborated with many others on studies of school-wide Positive Behavior Intervention Supports, both in schools and with special populations such as those in institutional facilities; prevention of behavior problems; student-teacher interactions; and many other topics.

Mike also contributed mightily to the good of education by serving as president of the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders. Zabel et al. (2015) published a wonderful interview with Mike, and Teagarden (2006) published an 80-minute video interview with Mike, M. M. Kerr, and J. M. Kauffman that is salted away on TheWayBackMachine (i.e., “InternetArchive” or archive.org).

If you have a lot of time on your hands, you can peruse a list of Mike’s many publications and even, perhaps download a few of them.

Sources

Kerr, M. M., & Nelson, C. M. (2006). Strategies for addressing behavior problems in the classroom. Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall.

Teagarden, J. A. (2006). A conversation with James Kauffman, Mary Margaret Kerr and C. Mike Nelson. Janus Oral History Project [Video]. https://archive.org/details/PanelDiscussionWithC.MikeNelsonMaryMargaretKerrJamesKauffman

Zabel, R., Kaff, M., & Teagarden, J. (2015). A good time: A conversation with C. Michael Nelson. Intervention in School and Clinic, 50(4), 238-241. https://doi.org/10.1177/1053451214546403