Niel Nielson

Niel Nielson is the president of Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, GA. He was born and raised in a pastor's home in Dallas, Texas and attended Wheaton College, singing in the Men's Glee Club, playing varsity tennis and majoring in philosophy. He also met his wife Kathleen Buswell there. Niel's M.A. and Ph.D. are both in philosophy, from Vanderbilt University. After Vanderbilt, Niel taught philosophy at Bethel College (MN), and in 1984, moved to the Chicago area, where he worked in the financial markets as a floor trader/market maker, in human resources, and in venture capital with the Chicago Research and Trading Group and NationsBank, and in mergers and acquisitions with The ServiceMaster Company. During this period, the family spent two years in London, and Niel traveled extensively in Europe, the former Soviet Union, and the Far East. Beginning in 1990, the Nielsons attended College Church in Wheaton (IL), where Niel served as Chairman of the Council of Elders and taught in many settings. In 1997, Niel was invited to join the College Church pastoral staff as Associate Pastor of Outreach, where his specific responsibilities (in addition to preaching, teaching, and pastoral care) included evangelism, social outreach, and church planting. He also had supervisory oversight in missions and singles and college ministries, and led ministry and missions trips to the United Kingdom, Europe, and Africa. Niel was ordained to the gospel ministry at College Church and is an ordained Ruling Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Maclellan Foundation and on the Boards of Directors of Covenant Transport, Inc., Allied Arts of Chattanooga, and a complex of investment funds headquartered in Wheaton, IL. The Nielsons attend Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church and have three grown sons.