Cary Nelson is Jubilee Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is an affiliated faculty member at the University of Haifa, a faculty member of ISGAP (The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy), and holds an honorary doctorate from Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Over his distinguished career, Prof. Nelson has authored or edited 39 books and published over 400 essays, focusing on modern poetry, critical theory, the politics of higher education, and issues related to antisemitism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
From 2006 to 2012, Prof. Nelson served as president of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), advocating for academic freedom and shared governance. His latest work, Mindless: What Happened to Universities? (2025), examines how universities deviated from their commitment to shared intellectual principles, leading to environments where extremism and intolerance can flourish. His new book, College Zionists Confront the Abyss: The Aftermath of October 7 in Higher Education is in press for 2026 publication.
Prof. Nelson supported Ward Churchill’s reinstatement to the University of Colorado at Boulder after the tenured professor had been terminated for academic misconduct in 2007 and, in addition, supported Norman Finkelstein, whose tenure denial at DePaul University in 2007 was widely attributed to his anti-Israel remarks. Notably, Finkelstein’s views differ starkly from his own, as Prof. Nelson in principle opposes organized academic boycotts, and has been harshly criticized for opposing the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement aimed against academic cooperation with Israeli institutions.
For his courage and principled and continued advocacy for academic freedom, the Columbia Academic Freedom Council is honored to present Prof. Cary Nelson with the 2025 Academic Freedom Award.
