Celebrating a Trailblazer: Dr. Deborah Imel Nelson Receives Occupational and Environmental Health Distinguished Alumni Award

2023 Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health

Deborah Imel Nelson, PhD, CIH, FAIHA, earned her B.S.in Environmental Science and M.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Oklahoma College of Engineering, in Norman, Oklahoma, and her Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) and Ph.D. in Environmental Health from the Hudson College of Public Health. Her trailblazing professional career began at OSHA in 1975, “very likely as the first woman industrial hygienist in Oklahoma”.

She recently earned the Certificate in Total Worker Health® from the Colorado School of Public Health. Deborah has been certified by the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) in the comprehensive practice of industrial hygiene since 1981. Deborah has served as a US Department of Labor – Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) industrial hygiene compliance officer and as a professor of environmental science at the University of Oklahoma. For two years she was an Occupational Health Scientist with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, where she conducted exposure assessments for the Global Burden of Occupational Injury and Illness. In 2017 she retired as the Safety and Occupational Health Manager for the US Department of Agriculture, Veterinary Services, which was heavily involved in highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreaks in 2015 and 2016.

Deborah is a Fellow of the American Industrial Hygiene Association, and served as AIHA President (2017 – 2018). She was the 2007 recipient of AIHA’s Smyth Award, which is presented annually to an individual who has recognized the needs of the industrial hygiene profession and contributed to the improvement of the public’s welfare.

Dr. Nelson has been a national leader in the industrial hygiene profession, serving multiple times on the Board of Directors of the American Industrial Hygiene Association, including a term as AIHA President. Though she is a happy and active resident of Colorado, she remains a frequent visitor to her native state, supporting the work of Oklahoma industrial hygienists.

In her spare time, Deborah volunteers for other associations, hikes, bikes, quilts, and enjoys 4 grandkids.