Ben Nelson

Ben Nelson is the founder, chairman and CEO of Minerva Project, founder and chancellor of Minerva University and a visionary with a passion to reinvent higher education.

Nelson started Minerva in 2011 with a goal of nurturing critical wisdom for the sake of the world through a systematic and evidence-based approach to learning. Over the past decade, he has build Minerva University into the most selective, innovative (ranked #1 according to the WURI rankings) and effective university in the U.S. Nelson has also developed a business, Minerva Project, to share Minerva’s unique approach with other like-minded institutions.

Prior to Minerva, Nelson spent more than ten years at Snapfish, where he helped build the company from startup to the world’s largest personal publishing service, with over 42 million transactions across 22 countries — nearly five times greater than its closest competitor. Prior to joining Snapfish, Nelson was president and CEO of Community Ventures, a network of locally branded portals for American communities.

Nelson’s passion for reforming undergraduate education was first sparked in college where he created a blueprint for curricular reform in his first year of school. Nelson went on to become the chair of the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education (SCUE), a pedagogical think tank at the University of Pennsylvania.

Ben Nelson is available to advise your organization via virtual and in-person consulting meetings, interactive workshops and customized keynotes through the exclusive representation of Stern Speakers & Advisors, a division of Stern Strategy Group^®.