Nate Beason was born in Long Beach, California and grew up in the San Joaquin Valley in a blue-collar household in a blue-collar town. He was a naval officer for 30 years, rising to the rank of captain. He served in eight ships, serving as commanding officer in three of them in addition to commanding two shore activities. In 1993, he commanded a seven-ship international naval task force involved in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia. He is a veteran of Viet Nam and made three deployments to the Middle East in command of warships.

After retiring from the Navy, Nate was a project manager for a 400-user computer software installation and implementation project, and he taught leadership and management skills to company executives for five years.

He has a BA and an MA from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Masters degree from Stanford. In 1989, he was the Arthur S. Moreau Fellow in International Relations and Diplomacy at Stanford. He was adjunct professor at U.C. Berkeley from 1995 to 1998.

Nate is a life member of the Disabled American Veterans and the University of California Alumni Association.

Nate was elected for a four-year term as District 1 Supervisor, 2005-2008 and was selected Chairman for 2006.  In 2008 he was elected to a second term for 2009-2012 after running unopposed, and was selected Vice-Chair for 2009.  He is Chairman of the Nevada County Transportation Commission; and sits on a number of other advisory boards and commissions, including the Area 4 Agency on Aging Governing Board, the Nevada County Substance Abuse Advisory Board, the Yuba Watershed Council, the Traffic Safety Committee, and the Transit Services Commission. Once again, this year Nate will serve on the Budget Subcommittee in his role as Vice-Chair.

Nate has been married for 42 years to the former Betty Hopkins. They have two children and two grandchildren.

In addition to his grandchildren, Nate enjoys fly-fishing, reading and gardening.