Timothy Nelson is a Lecturer in the Department of Sociology He is the author of numerous articles on low-income fathers and is the co-author, with Kathryn Edin, of the book Doing the Best I Can: Fatherhood in the Inner City, published in June 2013 by the University of California Press.

Currently, Nelson is working on a book with Kathryn Edin and Laura Lein (University of Michigan) on the work and child support experiences of 440 low-income fathers interviewed across four metropolitan areas: Philadelphia, Charleston, SC, Austin and San Antonio. 

Nelson’s prior research has focused on African American religion and congregational studies.  His prior book, Every Time I Feel the Spirit: Religious Experience and Ritual in an African American Congregation was published by NYU Press in 2004.  Nelson received his PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago in 1997 and has taught at Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Northwestern, and the University of Pennsylvania.