Alvin Andreas Herborg Nielsen joined the faculty of the Physics Department in 1935 and became head of the department in 1956. He became dean of liberal arts in 1963. A native of Menominee, Michigan, he received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Michigan and was a teaching and research fellow at Ohio State before coming to UT.
He achieved national acclaim for his work in infrared spectroscopy. In 1947 he was one of the first consultants employed by the Gaseous Diffusion Plant Laboratory (his clearance badge number was 3). As department head of physics, he had a major role in developing the Oak Ridge Connection and obtaining a 10-year Ford Foundation grant for faculty enhancement. He also played a key role in obtaining the Center of Excellence grant to the Physics Department by the National Science Foundation in 1968.
He was reluctant to accept the deanship of the College of Liberal Arts (now Arts and Sciences) but finally was convinced to do so, serving as dean-elect in 1962–63 and as dean 1963–77, the period of the college’s greatest growth. In advance of his 1977 retirement from the dean’s position, Alvin Nielsen Week, a weeklong celebration of cultural and scientific events, was held. Knoxville Mayor Randy Tyree also proclaimed May 23–29 as Alvin Nielsen Appreciation Week in a ceremony at City Hall. The Physics Building was named for Nielson in 1980.
He was a fellow of the American Physical Society and American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was the first UT professor to go abroad on a Fulbright postdoctoral scholarship, spending 1951–52 at the Astrophysical Institute in Liege, Belgium. He was a longtime member of the Knoxville Symphony Society and served twice as its president. He was also a member of the Irving Club and of Smokers, a diverse collection of a dozen or so men who met once a month in homes to give papers or talks on areas of interest.