Nathan Nelson

Nathan Nelson was born in 1938 in Avihayil

Nelson was born in Avihayil in 1938 to Moshe and Genia. His father came to the Land of Israel in 1918 as a soldier in the Jewish Legion and helped found Ramat Gan, Gan Haim and Avihayil. His mother's family was among the first settlers of Ramat Gan.

After army service he joined Kibbutz Gevim, then left to run the family farm in Avihayil when his father fell ill. In 1961 his former teacher Elazar Kochva persuaded him to study at Tel Aviv University. He earned 3 degrees there, including a doctorate under Professor Neuman, and married his classmate Hannah.

He did postdoctoral work with Efraim Racker at Cornell from 1970 to 1972 and then joined the Technion's biology department. He became a full professor in 1980. In 1985 he moved to the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology in the United States.

In 1995 he returned to Tel Aviv University and set up his lab in the Biochemistry Department. He helped start the Daniella Rich Institute for Structural Biology and directed it from 2005 to 2011. His research covers membrane proteins such as V-ATPase, neurotransmitter transporters, metal-ion transporters and photosynthesis complexes.