Thomas C. Nelson has served as the Chairman, President and CEO of National Gypsum Company since 1999. From 1995 to 1999, he served as Vice Chairman and CFO of this Charlotte, NC-based building product manufacturer.

Nelson is a member of The Business Council, The Business Roundtable and the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a member of the Board of Dean’s Advisors at Harvard Business School and a past-chair of the Policy Advisory Board at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. He is also a director of Belk Inc., Carolinas HealthCare System, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and Yum! Brands, Inc.

Nelson grew up in Chicago, graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. in industrial engineering, and received his MBA from Harvard Business School. He worked for Morgan Stanley & Co. and in the venture capital industry before joining National Gypsum. In 1992, Nelson was one of 15 people selected nationwide as a White House Fellow where, during his Fellowship, he served as Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Special Projects and received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service.

In Charlotte, Nelson is active in the city’s civic life. He currently serves on the boards of the Charlotte Chamber (Chair in 2007), the Boy Scouts and The Good Fellows Club.