Professor Nicholson, son of Alfred Osborne Pope Nicholson, a prominent Middle Tennessee Democratic leader, newspaper editor, lawyer, judge and US senator, was appointed the first professor of agriculture on December 4, 1869. After graduating from the University of North Carolina in 1855, he became associate editor of the Washington Union, of which his father was editor. While in Washington, he studied law, and he practiced law from 1857 to 1861 in Columbia, Tennessee, while also editing the Columbia Herald. He was appointed adjutant general of Tennessee in 1857. He served in the Confederate army with General Nathan Bedford Forrest, and then returned to edit the Columbia Herald and established and edited a paper called the Dixie Farmer.
At UT he purchased purebred livestock for the university’s farm, recommended sending out agents of the college to the entire state, gave public lectures on agriculture, and was instrumental in organizing an Agricultural Congress of the United States. He was active in building up a museum collection in the field of natural history, and served as university librarian (and introduced the Dewey Decimal System). For a brief period, he gave instruction in military tactics.
When his position was abolished in 1886 for financial reasons, he joined the staff of the Jersey Bulletin. From 1899 to 1900, he was president of the Nicholson Art League, first called Knoxville Art Club and later Knoxville Art League. This organization was concerned with both cultural and practical aspects of art and sought to stimulate art and civic consciousness of the community. He established the culture of the agricultural curriculum by including within it scientific and mathematical coursework, English composition and elocution, and business subjects, as well as agricultural subjects. He also strongly opposed the extensive use of student labor on the farm, contending that leisure time was better spent in studying.