LaRon E. Nelson LaRon E. Nelson, PhD, RN, NP will be the first African-American man to receive a PhD in Nursing from the University of Rochester at its upcoming commencement ceremony of May 15, 2010.

Dr. Nelson grew up in the Carver Heights neighborhood on Savannah’s west side and was educated in the Savannah-Chatham County public school system. He was President of his senior class at Herschel V. Jenkins High School where he graduated in 1995. He received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2002 and a Master of Science in Nursing in 2004, both from the University of Rochester.

Dr. Nelson is now teaching some of the world’s brightest students in his current position as an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing in Canada.

Dr. Nelson’s research focuses on the prevention of HIV in urban communities of the United States, Canada and Ghana.

Congratulating LaRon are his proud parents George (Mary) Nelson, Grandmother Mary E Jackson, Siblings: Sharon (Otis) Parris, George Jr. (Christina) Nelson, LaShonda Nelson, Aunts: Seledith Taylor, Joann Kennedy, Teresa Corbin, and Rosetta Jackson. Uncle Willie (Johnnie M) Taylor, Godparents Gus (Catherine) Young.