AIIAS Names New Vice President for Institutional Advancement

By Sharnie Love Zamora-Belarmino

Richard D. Nelson, MD MS, is the new AIIAS Vice President for Institutional Advancement (VPIA). The

VPIA oversees advancement (donor relations, alumni relations, grant procurement, and fundraising), public relations, and marketing for the institution. Nelson’s personal energies primarily focus on activities that bring non-tuition funding into the institution, build new collaborations, and assist the president in nurturing the connections of AIIAS with General Conference divisions, local and international entities, and prospective donors. He is also serving as the interim chair of the Public Health department.

Early in their marriage, Richard and Anna Nelson served in Eastern Europe and then Central Asia where they initiated 85 global mission and health projects. In 2021 they felt a calling to return to international mission service and contacted AIIAS. President Ginger Ketting-Weller comments, “Dr. Nelson’s childhood and family history in Asia as well as his experience, connections, energy, and vision are inviting to all who get to meet him. He’s already a significant asset to the administrative team in advancing the wellbeing, service, and reach of AIIAS.”

Prior to joining AIIAS, Nelson served as special assistant to the dean for extended campus programs, professor, and as program director at the School of Allied Health Professions, Loma Linda University. Nelson held a faculty position at Loma Linda University for 34 years, working in educational and clinical administration. His past appointments in affiliated organizations included vice president for medical affairs at Weimar Institute; union global mission & health director at Southern Union Conference of the Euro-Asia Division; internal medicine consultant in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; associate dean, professor, and department chairman of a Saudi medical college; and co-founder and director of the 1st USA-accredited international allied health university campus outside of North America (Loma Linda University).

Nelson was born in Taiwan to missionaries serving at the Far Eastern Division. He was schooled in the USA, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, graduating from eighth-grade on the Baesa campus of Philippine Union College. His mother, Capt. Dorothy Nelson, has been a well-known health educator and nurse-pilot of the “Wings of Health” in the Philippines while his father, Dr. Wilbur Nelson, served as the Far Eastern Division development officer.

Richard Nelson is married to Anna Nelson, DrPH, a 2007 alumna of the AIIAS Master of Public Health program. Anna was one of the first online students of AIIAS, working on her degree while serving in Central Asia, and now serves as associate professor and senior program director of Public Health practice programs at Loma Linda University. She is continuing her work remotely for Loma Linda University from their home at AIIAS. The Nelsons have four sons: Nerik, Billy, Tommy, and Michael.

Sharnie Love Zamora-Belarmino, MBA, RN, is the editor of Flags. She serves as the assistant for institutional writing at AIIAS. She comes from the Philippines.

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