Anthony C. Nelson serves as Dean of the School of Business at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). He also served as Business Dean at Grambling State University and Bowie State University, where he received proclamations from the Prince George’s County Council and the City of Bowie, and an Official Citation from the Maryland General Assembly commending him for his exemplary achievements to foster public-private partnerships to connect the business community and the University to enhance business incubation and entrepreneurship.

Dr. Nelson was the university liaison for the partnership between the City of Bowie and Prince George’s County to establish the Bowie Business Innovation Center (a business accelerator program) on the campus of Bowie State University. He also led the effort to establish the Entrepreneurship Academy (now called the Entrepreneurship Innovation Center) to foster student business ideation andcreation at Bowie State University. Working with NCCU faculty and staff, he has raised over $11 million dollars in contributions and grants from private donors and organizations, such as Blackstone, PNC Bank, Fidelity, the Kauffman Foundation, Lowe’s, Truist Bank, and NC Idea. Dean Nelson is leading the effort to grow a culture of entrepreneurship, wealth management, and commercial real estate management at North Carolina Central University through the new Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, the new Peggy Ward Financial Education Center, and the new MBA Commercial Real Estate Program. During his administrative career, Dr. Nelson has worked with and developed relationships with senior administrators, faculty, staff, corporations, and government agencies to raise funds and develop many new degrees and co-curricular programs to prepare students for today’s careers in supply chain, real estate, entrepreneurship, wealth management, cybersecurity, data analytics, information systems, and other industries.

He has served on boards for enterprises, such as the Baltimore-Washington Chamber of Commerce, Central Maryland Chamber of Commerce, Prince George’s County High Schools Career Academies, Bowie Business Innovation Center, and the Center for International Business Education and Research at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. In 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Nelson was appointed to the Durham Workforce Development Board and Durham’s Recovery and Renewal Task Force.

On two separate occasions, he has served as President of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Business Deans Roundtable. He currently chairs the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) Diversity and Affinity Group, is a member of the AACSB Initial Accreditation Committee, and sits on the Southern Business Administration Association (SBAA) Board, as well as the NC Council on Economic Education Advisory Board.