She also taught German at Howard University, was chair of the Wisconsin Parole Board from 1986 to 1987, and was president of the International Federation of Women Lawyers from 2000 to 2002.

[6] Nelson appeared in Mamba's Daughters with Roxie Roker, while on tour in Scandinavia and Germany with the Howard Players.

[14] She was also a supervising attorney attached to the University of Wisconsin Law School's legal assistance program for institutionalized clients.

[15] Her 1979 report with Gwynne Sizer, "Family Problems Related to the Female Offender", was part of congressional hearings on women in federal prisons.

[22][23] They lived in the "Lunar House" in Madison, a home built in 1969, with materials chosen resembling Moon rocks and space capsule surfaces.