Brent Franklin Nelsen is an American political science professor at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. He serves as chair of the South Carolina Educational Television Commission, having been appointed to the position by South Carolina governor Nikki Haley in 2011. He was reappointed to an additional six-year term in 2014. He is married to Lori Nelsen and has three children and two grandchildren. Nelsen was a founding member of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Greenville, South Carolina.