BOSTON (AP) – The Rev. J. Robert Nelson, a Methodist theologian who pioneered the study of bioethics and the relation of medical ethics to theology, died of cancer at age 84, his son said.

Nelson was a professor at the Boston University School of Theology from 1965 to 1985 and served as dean from 1972 to 1974.

He died on July 6 in a Houston hospital.

In the 1970s, Nelson became involved in the new field of bioethics, relating theological understanding to the science of genetics and medical technology, said his son, Eric, of Berwyn, Pa.

In the early days of gene cloning in the 1970s and 1980s, Nelson worked with various National Institute of Health panels to produce ethical and religious guidelines on cloning, his son said. Nelson also assembled a World Council of Churches conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1978.

Before his arrival at BU, he was dean of Vanderbilt University Divinity School from 1957 to 1960. Nelson established himself as a staunch supporter of civil rights when he resigned as dean in protest of the school’s dismissal of James Lawson, an African-American student who organized sit-in demonstrations.

“Robert Nelson was at the center of the crisis at Vanderbilt,” Lawson told The Boston Globe. “He handled the crisis with poise, Christian strength, and character.”

Nelson was also known as an ecumenical leader and teacher. At various times, the family lived in Geneva, India, Paris and Rome while Nelson worked to build understanding between people of different religions.

He was born in Winona Lake, Ind., one of three children of an ordained Methodist minister. He graduated from DePauw University in Indiana, where he was a football All-American.

He earned a master’s degree in theology from Yale, where he met his future wife, Patricia Mercer, who was attending Yale’s School of Public Health. Nelson joined the Marines in 1943 as a chaplain and served in the South Pacific and in China.

He earned his doctorate at the University of Zurich in Switzerland in 1948.

In 1985, Nelson became director of the Institute of Religion at the Texas Medical Center in Houston. In 1991, he was shot in his office there and critically injured by a disgruntled employee. He retired soon after.

Besides his son, Nelson leaves his wife; another son, William of Los Angeles, and two grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Houston.