American Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Navy in charge of financial affairs under President Nixon 1970-1971. On 17 April 1981 President Reagan announced his intention to nominate Robert Dean Nesen, of Thousand Oaks, California, to be U.S. Ambassador to Australia and to serve concurrently as Ambassador to the Republic of Nauru. He served in this capacity from 20 November 1981 to 2 May 1985.
A member of the Air-Research Corp of Los Angeles in 1941, Nesen served in the U. S. Navy as a pilot from 1942 to 1946 and was in the Naval Reserve from 1946 to 1966, lieutenant commander. He held a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering. In 1946-1947, he was the owner-manager of Coast Aero Flying Service of Oxnard, California and since 1948 he was founder-chairman of the board of R. D. Nesen Oldsmobile-Cadillac, Inc. of Thousand Oaks. He also, since 1971, was founder-chairman
of the board of Nesen Leasing Corp. In the fall of 1972 he left the navy and took over a Cadillac-Oldsmobile dealership in Westwood, co-operated by his son.
He was married to the former Delta Hudson and had three children. From his highly successful automotive dealership, Nesen made a fortune.
Nesen bought the Longview in 1984, a 34,000-acre Grant County ranch that included a sizable tract of Rudio Mountain. He was one of an increasing number of people from other states who have bought property in Eastern Oregon, drawn by its beauty and isolation. Under Nesen, ranch managers took steps to beef up security, putting a locked gate across a gravel road that hunters once drove to reach public forests high on the mountain. The ranch was not open to hunters who had left cattle gates open, cut down trees and torn up roads with all-terrain vehicles and otherwise abused private property. Nesen allowed about a hundred guests during hunting season and anyone who did not behave was not invited back.
On the other hand, there were hunters and hikers who had traversed Rudio Mountain for generations, who deeply resented being turned away from what was now private property. The feud became so severe that in 1998 it became a legal dispute.
In 1991, Nesen was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame. He died in Thousand Oaks, California on 14 November 2005 at the age of 87.
Link to Wikipedia biography