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News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Walter E. Nelson Company

$10 Million Nelson Gift to Enhance Campus, Programs

Portland businessman Michael E. Nelson ’76, a member of the University of Portland Board of Regents, and his wife Arlette have made a $10 million gift to enhance the campus infrastructure and support academic programs, the University announced Friday.

The $10 million commitment includes a lead gift for the construction of a new physical plant facility on the University’s lower property. Additionally, the gift will support academics and scholarships within the School of Nursing and the Pamplin School of Business.

The new physical plant facility will be named after Nelson’s father, the late Walter E. Nelson, founder and namesake of the family’s janitorial and paper supply distribution company.

Michael and Arlette Nelson are longtime supporters of the University of Portland and its mission. Michael graduated in 1976 with a degree in accounting, and their daughter, Ellerey, one of their four children, graduated from the University’s School of Nursing in 2016.  In 2013, the Nelsons established the Walter E. Nelson Distinguished Professorship in the Pamplin School of Business. Designed to help retain full-time faculty in the areas of accounting and finance, the gift supports curricular development and research. Dr. Bahram Adrangi, professor of economics, is the first recipient of the Nelson professorship.

Michael Nelson grew up in the St. Johns area, where he attended Roosevelt High School. After graduating from the University, he joined the janitorial supply business founded by his father in 1945. As CEO, he has led the business, with its main office on Swan Island, in significant growth. It is now the largest family-owned janitorial, chemical, and paper distributor in the Pacific Northwest with more than 400 employees and branches in Astoria, Auburn, Bellingham, Bend, Eugene, Medford, North Bend, Salem, Spokane, and Walla Walla.

UP Receives RISE Gift From Michael E. Nelson ’76

getThumbNail.aspxThe University of Portland has announced a RISE Campaign gift of special equipment for carpet cleaning from Michael E. Nelson, who graduated from UP in 1976 with a business degree in accounting. Nelson has made previous gifts to the University, including one to establish a Walter E. Nelson Distinguished professorship in the Pamplin School of Business. The donated equipment, valued at nearly $20,000, includes a Tennant V-WA-26 wide area vacuum and an (R14) Tennant TM9001689 Rider Ready Space Extractor with accessories. Both devices help reduce mold and bacteria and use up to 90 percent less water then conventional equipment.

Nelson’s prior gift to the Pamplin School of Business was in memory of his father, who in 1945 founded Walter E. Nelson Company, which today has become one of the Pacific Northwest’s premier janitorial and paper supply distribution networks. Michael Nelson joined the business full time after graduating from the University of Portland.

The company today offers service in janitorial, paper, chemical and packaging supply needs. It has grown significantly over the decades and today includes a state-of-the art corporate office and warehouse facility on Swan Island. The company also has branches in Klamath Falls, North Bend, Seattle, Bend, Walla Walla, Spokane, Astoria and Eugene.

Nelson’s gift is part of the University’s RISE Campaign, which was announced in December 2010 and seeks to raise $175 million by 2014. The campaign has raised more than $172 million to date and is one of the largest development campaigns ever for a Pacific Northwest private college or university.

For more information contact the development office at 7395 or hanna@up.edu.