Douglas Nelson Elected Massage Therapy Foundation President-Elect

Posted:Friday, March 3, 2017

The Massage Therapy Foundation (MTF) Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the election of Douglas Nelson, LMT, BCTMB as President-Elect. Nelson began his career in massage therapy in 1977 and currently maintains an active clinical practice.

His specific interest in massage therapy has been the role of soft tissue in performance. Nelson serves as a neuromuscular consultant to teams in the NBA and NFL, in addition to dance companies and high level musicians. He is also the President of BodyWork Associates, a massage therapy clinic in Champaign, IL, which was established in 1982.

Nelson’s teaching institute, NMT MidWest, Inc., provides close to 100 trainings annually in Precision Neuromuscular TherapyTM across the United States and abroad. Additionally, he is a guest lecturer at the University of Illinois Medical School, the Department of Family Medicine, and the Dance Department. Nelson has received numerous awards in the field of massage therapy, including the 2013 Massage Therapy Educator of the Year and the 2015 Pioneer Award from the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) Illinois Chapter.

“I am very excited and honored to take on this new role with the Massage Therapy Foundation. The more that I discover about the vast workings of the Foundation, the more impressed I am with how many ways our volunteers and donors give back to this field that we love so much,” said Nelson. “There is a rich history of passionate and dedicated people who have given so much to help fulfill the mission of the Foundation. My goal is to be a worthy steward for the groundwork laid in the past and, with the help of this tremendous staff and Board of Trustees, help to ensure a vibrant future for the MTF for decades to come.”

During his year as President Elect, Nelson will serve alongside Dr. Jerrilyn Cambron, the outgoing MTF President. Of Nelson’s appointment, Cambron said, “We could not be happier to announce that the President-Elect of the Massage Therapy Foundation is Douglas Nelson. He is a kind and genuine person who is uniquely qualified to serve in this position. As a massage therapist, he interacts with clients on a daily basis and directly sees the benefits of massage therapy for various conditions. As an educator, he is deeply involved in this field and has a broad understanding of the profession’s needs, particularly in terms of research and community service. As the next MTF president, he will have the opportunity to blend his knowledge of the profession with the benefits of the foundation in order to exponentially affect the field of massage therapy. We are all excited for Doug to take the lead and to continue to build the Massage Therapy Foundation’s impact within the field of healthcare.”

Nelson has been a Massage Therapy Foundation Trustee since 2016, and has also served on the Foundation’s Finance and Community Service Grant Proposal Committees. He will serve as President-Elect from March 1, 2017 through February 28, 2018. On March 1, 2018, Nelson will take his seat as Massage Therapy Foundation President for a two-year term.