[1][2] He began his 33 years of full-time service at UT Arlington in 1959 as the founding dean of the College of Engineering.

He was named president emeritus in 1992, and received the Mirabeau B. Lamar Award for Leadership in Learning from the Association of Texas Colleges and Universities.

As a Navy V-7 reservist, he was sent to the Naval Academy at Annapolis for a period of training, after which he was commissioned an ensign and assigned to the Destroyer USS Patterson (DD392).

[5] After his discharge from the navy, Nedderman became an instructor in the department of civil engineering at Texas A&M University; he received a masters there in 1949.

During the 1967-1969 presidential transition, Nedderman held three positions simultaneously: dean of engineering, graduate school administrator, and vice president for academic affairs.

[9] In November 1972 Nedderman was named acting president of UTA, a position he held until February 1974 when he was selected the eleventh chief administrator of the institution.

The basis for the decision was that the program was draining valuable university funds, low attendance, and the negative impact of football deficits on other sports.