[1] Prior to his appointment at Kent State, he served as athletic director at the University of South Dakota from 2003 to 2010 and at Colorado College from 2001 to 2003.
He is an alumnus of Minnesota State University, Mankato, where he played football and baseball and earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees.
Nielsen also played a key role in securing membership for all sports except football into the Summit League in 2010, with competition beginning in 2012.
Sharon Nielsen played collegiate golf at Northern Illinois University and all three Nielsen daughters are golfers and were key members of the girls golf team at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Kent to lead the Rough Riders to a sixth-place finish at the state tournament in 2013 and a fifth-place finish in 2014.
[6][7] Kasey and Kelly committed to the Kent State women's golf program in 2013 and began play for the Flashes in 2015.