Walter Elmore Nance (1933 – October 17, 2021) was an American academic who was Professor and Chair (emeritus) of the Department of Human Genetics of the Virginia Commonwealth University.
He was an internationally known expert in hereditary deafness, twin studies and genetic linkage analysis of both continuous and qualitative traits.
He spent his childhood in Shanghai, New Orleans, and Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
In 1975, Nance accepted a position at the Virginia Commonwealth University where he continues to be active in research.
Nance and his wife Mayna Avent retired to Sewanee, Tennessee.