Nelson Ng joined the Palo Alto Museum Board of Directors in 2019 and became Chair in July 2025, as the Museum moves toward opening in the historic Birge Clark–designed Roth Building.
A UC Berkeley computer science graduate, Nelson built a three-decade career in software globalization at Silicon Valley companies, including Xerox, Sun Microsystems, Oracle, Microsoft, eBay, and PayPal — helping make their products accessible across languages and cultures around the world.
Nelson’s connection to Palo Alto began in 1982 when he arrived as a summer intern at Xerox. He moved to the city in 1996 with his wife, Kimberley Wong. Her grandfather co-founded City Cafe in 1915, Palo Alto’s first Chinese-owned licensed restaurant, and three generations of her family attended Addison, Jordan (now Greene), and Palo Alto High School.
In his community life, Nelson has practiced Chen-style Tai Chi since 1989. Since 2014 he has taught a Sunday morning class open to all at Rinconada Library.
“I envision the Palo Alto Museum as a storytelling platform where people here and around the world can share the stories that shaped our past, experience the stories unfolding today, and help write the stories of the future. I’m grateful to help build a place where those stories inspire what comes next as Palo Alto continues to change the world.”