J. Robert Nelson (August 21, 1920 – July 6, 2004) was an American Methodist theologian, academic administrator, and ethicist.
[2][7] Nelson initially believed the stories published by Vanderbilt trustee James Geddes Stahlman's newspaper, The Nashville Banner, about Civil Rights activist James Lawson, who was a student at the school, which suggested Lawson was inciting others to "violate the law", were misleading.
[2][7] With three of his colleagues, Nelson "paid Lawson's $500 bail when he was arrested on charges of conspiracy to violate state laws the day after his expulsion".
[7] Nelson served as one of the interim deans of Boston University School of Theology, following the retirement of Walter George Muelder, during the period 1972 to 1977.
[7] His papers are held at the Jean and Alexander Heard Library on the campus of Vanderbilt University.