One of Gary’s earliest opera memories is a concert by coloratura soprano Joan Sutherland in Houston more than 50 years ago. A more recent and fantastic memory is seeing a performance of opera arias in Paris with grandchildren and wife Holly. It took place in the perfect acoustics of the 13th century Sainte-Chappelle. He has also seen and enjoyed many of the presentations of Opera Steamboat over the years.

Gary and Holly have been Steamboat residents for 20 years, coming from Washington DC, where they still maintain a  presence.

Gary earned a bachelor’s from Duke and a PhD from Rice in economics, before embarking on a career in private think tanks and government service. He served in the Carter Administration as the head of the Civil Service Retirement System and the federal employee health benefits programs.

Following government, Gary set out on a business career. He worked for many years as an executive at a large management consulting and information technology firm. For the past twenty years, Dr. Nelson has been an advisor to over a dozen companies on strategies for management and growth.  He has also served on numerous boards of private companies and not-for-profit entities. His latest venture, Sigma Federal, has successfully liquidated its investments in the aviation industry in the last two years.

Gary is looking forward, as a new board member, to working with the team of Opera Steamboat.