Cary Nelson, professor of English, won the recent American Association of University Professors presidential election. He is the 49th president of the organization and the fourth from the University.

The association is a non-profit assemblage of collegiate faculty, librarians, and other academic professionals. The 45,000 members come from various public and private colleges and universities. Founded in 1915, the primary focus for the organization has been to promote academic freedom and shared governance through various methods including public speaking, lobbying and when needed, protesting.

“Almost every indicator says that higher education is in a state of grave difficulty,” Nelson said. “We face financial difficulties; . we face a crisis in the fundamental character of higher education. The AAUP stands behind the notion that students should be educated, to be critical participants in a democracy. Higher education everywhere is turning in to mere job training.”

Nelson won the election with 59 percent of the vote and said his published works about the crises of higher education was part of the reason for his victory. He also had the overwhelming support of many of the organization’s top leadership, he said.

Jane Buck, the current president of the association, said Nelson’s background is ideal for the position.

“To be president, he or she has to be absolutely committed to the principles of the AAUP – Cary Nelson certainly exemplifies that,” Buck said. “He’s articulate, he’s courageous, he’s a scholar – I can’t think of anybody better qualified.”

Nelson served for 10 years on the organization’s national council.

He said one of his main goals for his presidency is to reduce the growing trend of part-time faculty at the collegiate level, which, he said, has risen to unprecedented levels. He said part-time faculty do not get academic freedom and are subject to the whims of their respective universities.

Another objective is increasing the organization’s internal communication by developing an “e-mail tree” system in which different chapters and universities have contacts responsible for passing along messages from the national office and informing local members of upcoming events and issues.

Martin Snyder, the organization’s director of planning and development, has known Nelson for several years and said Nelson’s profound intellect and public presence will be of great value to the position.

“What the association needs at the moment is direction, a sense of priority. Cary can do that,” Snyder said. “The (organization’s) policy-making and world-view came from 50 to 75 years ago. Now, there is a need to orient the association to deal with the realities of higher education as they are, and to use that to create a vision for the future.”

Nelson also has authored or edited 25 books and includes 150 articles to his writing credit. He teaches one course a semester at the University, which typically alternates between an undergraduate and graduate seminar in English.