Dr. Michael Nelson received his Bachelor of Science from Arizona State University before moving back home to Illinois and earning his Doctorate of Optometry from the Chicago College of Optometry. While in optometry school, he was co-founder and Trustee for the American Optometric Student Association, co-founder and Vice-President of the Optometric Private Practice Club, and was one of two students to be nominated and inducted into the Gold Key International Optometric Honor Society, which is considered to be the highest honor for leadership a student of optometry can achieve. He is experienced working with a diverse patient population, having completed his clinical rotations at various private practices, medical centers, and VA’s. With a strong background in multiple optometric subspecialties like primary care, vision therapy, ocular disease, and low vision allow him to utilize a wide array of expertise in managing a variety of ocular diseases and vision disorders.

In the optometric community, Dr. Nelson is a member of the American Optometric Association, has been featured in the Illinois Optometric Journal, and has presented published research at various national conferences, including the College of Optometrists in Vision Development. He also actively volunteers for several organizations, such as the Special Olympics where he assists in vision screenings for local athletes.

In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, friends, and his wife Haley.  He spends much of his free time outdoors fishing or water skiing in the summer and snow skiing in the winter.