Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, National Gypsum Company. Thomas C. Nelson has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of National Gypsum Company, a building products manufacturer, since 1999 and was elected Chairman of the Board in January 2005. From 1995 to 1999, Mr. Nelson served as the Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of National Gypsum Company. He is also a General Partner of Wakefield Group, a North Carolina based venture capital firm. Mr. Nelson previously worked for Morgan Stanley & Co. and in the United States Defense Department as Assistant to the Secretary and was a White House Fellow. He also serves as a director of Belk, Inc.