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About the Authors
As a team, Linda and Alan Nelson work together with the goal of helping to
improve the day-to-day quality of children’s lives. Both Linda and Alan are active in
numerous professional organizations, including the National Association for the
Education of Young Children. They have given many presentations on family and
child care-related topics.
Linda Nelson, Ph.D., taught at Indiana University of Pennsylvania for 35 years
where she is now Professor Emeritus. She was Chairperson of the Human
Development and Environmental Studies Department and Professor of Child
Development and Family Relations. She authored numerous grants in the Family
and Consumer Sciences area and had also served as chair of the Home Economics
Education Department. She has been a training consultant to child care and Head
Start programs throughout Pennsylvania and has served as a guest speaker and
workshop presenter at regional and national conferences.
Alan Nelson, D.Ed., is currently Associate Professor of Child Development and
Family Relations at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. For over 20 years, he was
the Executive Director of the Indiana County Child Care Program, a Pennsylvania
model program with services for over 600 children, ages infancy to 12 years old. He
has served on numerous child care-related committees at the state level and
authored/coauthored successful state and national grants, including a federal
Department of Education Child Care Access Means Parents In School grant. Alan
was also a cluster coordinator for two clusters of doctoral students at Nova
Southeastern University. Prior to that, he worked as an elementary school guidance
counselor. He was awarded the Friend of Home Economics Award by the
Pennsylvania Home Economics Association (now, the Pennsylvania Family and
Consumer Sciences Association).