John D. Welty
Special Advisor to the President
Professional Background
Dr. John D. Welty, President Emeritus at Fresno State, is serving as Special Advisor to SSU President Judy Sakaki. He is assisting with administration of the Green Music Center as well as examining ways in which the campus can be organized to achieve greater efficiencies and effectiveness. He is an American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) consultant and co-leads the AASCU Academy for new CSU Provosts. Welty was the seventh president of Fresno State and led the campus from 1991 to 2013.
Dr. Welty is recognized as an authority on national higher education issues. He served on and chaired many national boards, testified before Congress and also was involved in major strategic planning efforts within the 23-campus CSU System. He participated in the creation of the Voluntary System of Accountability adopted by more than 200 colleges and universities and frequently spoke about the role of engaged universities and served on several advisory groups to the U.S. Departments of Education and Agriculture.
Dr. Welty was chairman of the Renaissance Group, a national organization dedicated to improved teacher education programs. He co-chaired the CSU’s effort to create CALState Teach, an innovative program designed for emergency credentialed teachers, and also chaired a CSU group on preparing educational leaders.
In addition, Dr. Welty served as chairman of the CSU Gender Equity Monitoring Committee and on the executive board of the Central California Campus Compact. He chaired three national conferences on substance abuse and prevention, a CSU effort to review alcohol policies and programs and the Cal State Online board.
He also served as commissioner and chair of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges senior accrediting commission and chair of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities board. He also served on the board, committees and task forces of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and chaired the American Humanics Inc. Board, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the WAC Board of Directors.
Before joining Fresno State, Dr. Welty was president of Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) for seven years. He served as vice president for Student and University Affairs for four years prior to becoming president at IUP.
A native of Amboy, Illinois, Dr. Welty also worked as an admissions counselor at Michigan State University, East Lansing, and as assistant vice president for Student Affairs at Southwest State University in Marshall, Minnesota. At the State University of New York, Albany, he was director of Residences, associate dean for Student Affairs, and assistant professor of Counseling and Student Development.
Dr. Welty received his bachelor’s degree in Social Science from Western Illinois University, Macomb in 1965; his master’s in College Student Personnel Services from Michigan State University in 1967; and his doctorate in Administration of Higher Education from Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1974.