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California State University, Fresno faculty, staff and administrators and members of the greater Fresno community gathered on Wednesday, Aug. 24, to pay tribute to Dr John D. Welty as he began his 21st year as Fresno State’s seventh president.

Several hundred people gathered in the Smittcamp Alumni House for the event.

Tributes came from Dr. Benjamin Quillian, the California State University executive vice chancellor and chief financial officer; Dr. Mike Ortiz, president of Cal Poly Pomona; Dr. Alexander Gonzalez, the Sacramento State president; and Dr. Jeri Echeverria, retired CSU executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer. All were administrators at Fresno State during Welty’s tenure.

His four current top administrators – Provost William Covino and vice presidents Paul Oliaro (Student Affairs), Peter N. Smits (Advancement) and Cynthia Teniente-Matson (Administration/CFO) – serenaded their boss with a send-up of “Big Bad John.”

Welty, an Illinois native and the first in his family to go to college, was president of Indiana University of Pennsylvania before being appointed by CSU Trustees as Fresno State president, succeeding Harold H. Haak, who retired.

Since arriving on campus, the university’s academic mission has been expanded to include several master’s and doctoral programs, a broad range of research by faculty and students and innumerable alliances with the community to meet regional challenges.

Welty secured the endowment that created the Smittcamp Family Honors College, a first in the CSU system, which provides scholarships and an enriched academic program for high-achieving, community-engaged high school graduates.

Welty has undertaken numerous initiatives to ensure Fresno State reflects the region’s broad diversity in its student body and employees and to maximize educational opportunities in a region challenged economically. He also has been a champion of volunteer service from Fresno State to the community, which has resulted in two consecutive years of more than 1 million hours of community service by more than 14,000 students, faculty, staff and administrators.

The campus has been transformed with construction of the new and renovated Henry Madden Library, the Science II building, Smittcamp Alumni House, Bulldog Diamond, University High School, Student Recreation Center, Aquatics Center and the Save Mart Center.

To help secure the university’s financial future, Welty approved and has been an active part of the Campaign for Fresno State, the university’s first comprehensive private fundraising effort. Nearly 23,000 individuals have contributed $168.7 million – better than 84 percent of the campaign’s $200 million goal.

Read more about Welty at http://www.csufresno.edu/President/about.shtml.

To leave a congratulations message for President Welty, visit http://www.csufresno.edu/President/congratulations/