Alumni Award Recipient

Award: 2009 Distinguished Achievement Award

Achievements: Oliver Welch is a 1952 graduate of the Martha Berry School for Boys who attended Berry College and received his doctoral degree from Georgia State University. He has distinguished himself in service to several Georgia governors and earned professional designations in numerous fields, including urban planning (AIP), accounting (CPA), law (JD), real estate (CPM) and financial planning (CFP). Early in his career, Mr. Welch assisted in the establishment of Georgia’s first statewide budget bureau and was responsible for a report, “Georgia’s Greatest Investment – Education,” that helped lead to changes in the state’s education funding formula and the reorganization of the Georgia Department of Education (GDE). Before the age of 30, he found himself serving as deputy superintendent of the reorganized GDE. At 31, Mr. Welch was tasked with establishing Georgia’s first statewide planning agency, recruiting a diverse group of more than 100 professionals from throughout the nation to act as a “think tank” for the governor’s office. Later, he served as the first director of Georgia’s Bureau of Community Affairs and was chairman of the governor’s computer advisory board. As his career progressed, Mr. Welch served in executive management positions in several public and private corporations and established his own wealth management corporation. He also served on the faculty of several universities and provided leadership for numerous civic organizations, among them the Northwest Council of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce (which he served as president), the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and the Buckhead Business Association. Most recently, the Atlanta resident co-authored the first book on the history of the financial planning profession, to be published later this year by John Wiley & Sons as part of the 40th anniversary of the profession.