Dr. Nelson is a senior political scientist at RAND and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. He has over 20 years of experience as a policy analyst and evaluator. His work often involves leading multi-disciplinary teams in designing systems for performance measurement, system improvement, and organizational learning. Nelson has worked in a wide range of policy areas, including public health, healthcare, workplace safety, education, and others. For instance, he has helped agencies in the U.S. and European Union develop and implement new systems for measuring state/local capacity to respond to bioterrorism attacks, infectious disease outbreaks, and other health emergencies. Nelson was also founding director of the RAND Center for Health and Safety in the Workplace and, prior to coming to RAND, authored What’s Public About Charter Schools: Lessons Learned About Choice and Accountability (Corwin Press, 2002) and numerous papers and technical reports on charter school reforms in the U.S.