California State University, Fresno President John D. Welty was presented the 2007 Harold Haak Award for Educational Excellence at the Fresno Compact Business-Education Awards Luncheon on March 7.
Welty was cited for his work on the local, regional and national levels in building partnerships with education and business.
Since his arrival at Fresno State in 1991, the university has completed a major planning effort, expanded minority enrollment, created an Honors College, revised its general education requirements, added new academic programs and institutes, constructed more than $270 million in facilities.
Welty is recognized nationally as a leader in planning for the future, teacher education reform, information technology planning and substance abuse prevention. He has championed service-learning and volunteer service for students, faculty and staff.
He serves on the NCAA Board Executive committee, and currently serves as chair of the Commission on International Programs of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC). He is past chair of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) board.
The award noted that Welty has helped form important local agencies, including the Fresno Business Council, Central Valley Business Incubator, Kenneth L. Maddy Institute at Fresno State, the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium, the Collaborative Regional Initiative, the Regional Jobs Initiative and several other partnerships.
He has been the recipient of the Fresno Business Council’s Excellence in Public Service Award and the California State Student Association’s President of the Year Award.
The Haak award is named for the late Harold H. Haak, a former president of Fresno State and Fresno Pacific University, who directed the Fresno Compact for several years.
