• Legislative District 19 •
Experience
&
Background
With Secretary Bill Bennett
Washington, DC 1986
Washington, DC 1986
One of the greatest privileges of my life has been the trust you have given me in choosing me to represent you. Read on if you want to know a little more about me:
I’m blessed with a wonderful family.
My wife Marilyn and I will celebrate our 27th wedding anniversary February 16, 2012.
We met when we were both working in Washington. She worked for Republican and noted conservative leader, Congressman Mickey Edwards.
We have five children.
Counting our wonderful daughter-in-law, we have three sons and three daughters.
We have one daughter at home. She attends Millcreek Junior High. Our other daughter is a freshman at Utah State University. Two of our boys are in college. The other is serving an LDS Mission (Florida Tallahassee Mission).
Two of our sons and our older daughter were Sterling Scholars at Bountiful High.
We met when we were both working in Washington. She worked for Republican and noted conservative leader, Congressman Mickey Edwards.
We have five children.
Counting our wonderful daughter-in-law, we have three sons and three daughters.
We have one daughter at home. She attends Millcreek Junior High. Our other daughter is a freshman at Utah State University. Two of our boys are in college. The other is serving an LDS Mission (Florida Tallahassee Mission).
Two of our sons and our older daughter were Sterling Scholars at Bountiful High.
I’ve benefited from great educational opportunities.
I earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from BYU in 1981.
I studied English and German and thought I would be a high school English teacher one day.
In 1991 I completed a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Oregon.
If you are familiar with the culture at BYU and at the U of O, you’ll know the two are about as different as can be. My father, a statistician, says that on the average I attended the University of Utah.
I studied English and German and thought I would be a high school English teacher one day.
In 1991 I completed a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Oregon.
If you are familiar with the culture at BYU and at the U of O, you’ll know the two are about as different as can be. My father, a statistician, says that on the average I attended the University of Utah.
I love what I do.
I am an owner, senior principal, and Chief Financial Officer of CRSA, a 50-person architecture firm.
My major area of focus professionally is higher education.
I have worked in the profession since 1991 and have been a licensed architect since 1994.
My goal as an architect is to enrich lives and build better communities.
I spent the last six years of the Reagan administration working as a political appointee in the U. S. Department of Education.
I worked in both the Office of Management and the Office of the Secretary helping implement President Reagan’s agenda. Our initiatives included streamlining agency operations, improving credit management for student loan defaulters, increasing opportunities for success in the full spectrum of educational settings, and privatizing functions that the government was not managing successfully.
Oh, and in high school I worked on a framing crew.
I think we’d all be better off if we spent a portion of our time working with our hands. I’ve built a house and remodeled a couple of others.
My major area of focus professionally is higher education.
I have worked in the profession since 1991 and have been a licensed architect since 1994.
My goal as an architect is to enrich lives and build better communities.
I spent the last six years of the Reagan administration working as a political appointee in the U. S. Department of Education.
I worked in both the Office of Management and the Office of the Secretary helping implement President Reagan’s agenda. Our initiatives included streamlining agency operations, improving credit management for student loan defaulters, increasing opportunities for success in the full spectrum of educational settings, and privatizing functions that the government was not managing successfully.
Oh, and in high school I worked on a framing crew.
I think we’d all be better off if we spent a portion of our time working with our hands. I’ve built a house and remodeled a couple of others.
I give back to our community. My record of service includes:
Service as a Utah State Legislator beginning January 1, 2011
So far so good!
Decades of Republican Party activism.
I’ve been helping elect good conservatives since I was a kid. Remember when caucuses used to be called mass meetings? That’s what we knew them as when I started attending them more than thirty years ago. I was elected state and county delegate just weeks after moving to Bountiful in 1992 and have served here at the grass roots level ever since. I was a candidate for state senate in 2008. Did I mention my work for the Reagan administration?
Public service committee work for my professional association, including service on the AIA legislative affairs committee.
Reading hundreds of bills and talking with lawmakers is second nature to me.
Board memberships:
Our purpose was to make sure that national internship requirements are clearly aligned with what it takes to practice independently and protect the public. Our task force's recommendations have now all been implemented.
Numerous turns as church choir director, youth leader, merit badge counselor, Sunday School teacher, and even neighborhood float committee chairman.
Since I didn’t end up teaching by profession, It’s hard to put into words how much I enjoy volunteer teaching opportunities.
Volunteer work for the Louis August Jonas Foundation, which runs a summer youth leadership training program, of which I am an alumnus.
Volunteer facilitator for several Envision Utah town hall meetings in 1999 and 2000.
Doing my part to make sure the public really was heard.
Volunteer instructor for the Presidential Classroom for Young Americans in 1984
Working with top-notch, civic-minded high school students is always a thrill!
So far so good!
Decades of Republican Party activism.
I’ve been helping elect good conservatives since I was a kid. Remember when caucuses used to be called mass meetings? That’s what we knew them as when I started attending them more than thirty years ago. I was elected state and county delegate just weeks after moving to Bountiful in 1992 and have served here at the grass roots level ever since. I was a candidate for state senate in 2008. Did I mention my work for the Reagan administration?
Public service committee work for my professional association, including service on the AIA legislative affairs committee.
Reading hundreds of bills and talking with lawmakers is second nature to me.
Board memberships:
Utah Architect Licensing Board.
This state board is charged with policing the architecture profession in order to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the general public.
Utah Humanities Council Development Advisory Board.
Helping with fundraising approaches for this non-profit organization that promotes reading and literacy.
National task force on training standards for future architects.This state board is charged with policing the architecture profession in order to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the general public.
Utah Humanities Council Development Advisory Board.
Helping with fundraising approaches for this non-profit organization that promotes reading and literacy.
Our purpose was to make sure that national internship requirements are clearly aligned with what it takes to practice independently and protect the public. Our task force's recommendations have now all been implemented.
Numerous turns as church choir director, youth leader, merit badge counselor, Sunday School teacher, and even neighborhood float committee chairman.
Since I didn’t end up teaching by profession, It’s hard to put into words how much I enjoy volunteer teaching opportunities.
Volunteer work for the Louis August Jonas Foundation, which runs a summer youth leadership training program, of which I am an alumnus.
Peas on Earth--
2003 Canstruction©
People’s Choice Award
I chaired the Utah selection committee for 2008.
Leadership in special food drives for the Utah Food Bank
Canstruction©—a whimsical food drive/competition in which teams of contractors, architects, and engineers pool funds, purchase tons of canned food, build something out of it for judging and public display (to encourage more donations), and then donate all those cans.
Membership in the Tabernacle Choir for nine years.Marilyn is now taking her turn.
I sing baritone. She’s a second alto. We’re always on the lookout for a soprano and a tenor to make a quartet.
Salt Lake 2002 Olympic volunteer.
As a National Olympic Committee assistant, I was assigned to the Austrian team and based at the Olympic Village at Fort Douglas. Marilyn, of course, sang in the opening ceremonies. What a month!
Leadership in special food drives for the Utah Food Bank
Canstruction©—a whimsical food drive/competition in which teams of contractors, architects, and engineers pool funds, purchase tons of canned food, build something out of it for judging and public display (to encourage more donations), and then donate all those cans.
Membership in the Tabernacle Choir for nine years.Marilyn is now taking her turn.
I sing baritone. She’s a second alto. We’re always on the lookout for a soprano and a tenor to make a quartet.
Salt Lake 2002 Olympic volunteer.
As a National Olympic Committee assistant, I was assigned to the Austrian team and based at the Olympic Village at Fort Douglas. Marilyn, of course, sang in the opening ceremonies. What a month!
Doing my part to make sure the public really was heard.
Volunteer instructor for the Presidential Classroom for Young Americans in 1984
Working with top-notch, civic-minded high school students is always a thrill!
Personal Interests
I really enjoy photography.
As you look through this website, you might be interested to know that the photographs (except for portraits I’m in) are my own—including the one of President Reagan that I later got autographed.
Backpacking in the Uintas is my dream vacation.
In the summer of 2010 we had the whole family together at Wilder Lake just off the Highline trail.
Skiing is a great way to spend time with the family.
I can’t keep up with my sons anymore.
I have a small workshop where I enjoy using my woodworking tools.
Marilyn calls it a garage.
I’m an occasional poet.
I wrote a poem in honor of the constitution’s bicentennial: "Made by our Hands." My father, Howard Nielson, read it on the floor of the U. S. House of Representatives and had it printed in the Congressional Record September 30, 1987.
Marilyn and I have collaborated on about a dozen Christmas carols over the years.
Mostly she writes the music and I write the lyrics.
As you look through this website, you might be interested to know that the photographs (except for portraits I’m in) are my own—including the one of President Reagan that I later got autographed.
Backpacking in the Uintas is my dream vacation.
In the summer of 2010 we had the whole family together at Wilder Lake just off the Highline trail.
Skiing is a great way to spend time with the family.
I can’t keep up with my sons anymore.
I have a small workshop where I enjoy using my woodworking tools.
Marilyn calls it a garage.
I’m an occasional poet.
I wrote a poem in honor of the constitution’s bicentennial: "Made by our Hands." My father, Howard Nielson, read it on the floor of the U. S. House of Representatives and had it printed in the Congressional Record September 30, 1987.
Marilyn and I have collaborated on about a dozen Christmas carols over the years.
Mostly she writes the music and I write the lyrics.
Odds and Ends
I was listed in Outstanding Young Men of America in 1985.
Twenty-seven years later, I’m still young at heart.
I’m fluent in German
I lived there with my family as a youth and again as an LDS missionary. I once functioned as advance man and interpreter on assignment with the Federal Government in Germany.
I’ve been a guest lecturer/speaker at the University of Oregon, University of Utah, Brigham Young University, and at the St. George and Idaho Falls Chambers of Commerce.
My focus has generally been on the business case for energy-efficient design.
Twenty-seven years later, I’m still young at heart.
I’m fluent in German
I lived there with my family as a youth and again as an LDS missionary. I once functioned as advance man and interpreter on assignment with the Federal Government in Germany.
I’ve been a guest lecturer/speaker at the University of Oregon, University of Utah, Brigham Young University, and at the St. George and Idaho Falls Chambers of Commerce.
My focus has generally been on the business case for energy-efficient design.
Experience, a lifetime of political involvement, widely varied interests, a record of community service, and a keen understanding of what works and what doesn’t. All things considered, no one is better prepared to represent you.