John James "Jack" Welch Jr. (August 23, 1930 – October 8, 2010) was a

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

scientist and businessman who served as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition) from 1987 to 1992.

Biography

Welch was born in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

on August 23, 1930.George Bush: Continuation of John J. Welch Jr. as an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Aug. 9, 1989
/ref> He was educated at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, graduating with a B.S. in 1951. After college, Welch got a job with

Vought Vought was the name of several related American aerospace firms. These have included, in the past, Lewis and Vought Corporation, Chance Vought, Vought-Sikorsky, LTV Aerospace (part of Ling-Temco-Vought), Vought Aircraft Companies, and Vought ...

(which was acquired by

Ling-Temco-Vought Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) was a large American conglomerate which existed from 1961 to 2001. At its peak, it was involved in aerospace, airlines, electronics, steel manufacturing, sporting goods, meat packing, car rentals, and pharmaceuticals, ...

in 1961). From 1965 to 1970, he was vice president of the missiles and space division of LTV Aerospace. In this capacity, from 1965 to 1970, he was also the

Chief Scientist of the United States Air Force The Chief Scientist of the Air Force is the most senior science and technology representative in the United States Department of the Air Force. The current Chief Scientist of the United States Air Force is Victoria Coleman, sworn in on April 6, ...

. In 1970, he became LTV Aerospace's Vice President (Programs), a position he held until 1974, when he was named corporate vice president. He was then promoted to Senior Vice President of LTV Aerospace in 1975, holding this position until 1985. On July 1, 1987,

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

nominated Welch to be Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition).Nomination of John J. Welch Jr. To Be an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, July 1, 1987
/ref> President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

chose to keep Welch in this position, and he served until the end of the Bush Administration. He was briefly Acting

United States Secretary of the Air Force The secretary of the Air Force, sometimes referred to as the secretary of the Department of the Air Force, (SecAF, or SAF/OS) is the head of the United States Department of the Air Force, Department of the Air Force and the service secretary for ...

, from April 29, 1989 until May 21, 1989. After leaving government service in 1992, Welch served on the

Board of Directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of a number of corporations, including

MBDA MBDA is a European multinational corporation specialized in the design, development and manufacturing of Missile, missiles and related systems.Verint Systems Verint Systems Inc. is a Melville, New York–based technology company that sells products and services for customer experience (CX) automation. The company offers an open platform, applications, and bots that incorporate artificial intelligence ...

Serco Serco Group plc is a British multinational corporation, multinational military, defence, Healthcare, health, Space industry, space, private prison, justice, Human migration, migration, customer service, customer services, and transport company ...

, Dynacs Military & Defense,

Meggitt Parker Meggitt (legally Meggitt Ltd) is a British international company specialising in components and sub-systems for the aerospace, defence and selected energy markets. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the F ...

, and Wilcoxon Research.John Welch Obituary
/ref> Welch died on October 8, 2010, aged 80, in

Plano, Texas Plano ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "flat surface" /'plano/) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, where it is the largest city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County. A small portion of Plano is located in Denton County, Texas, Denton Count ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Welch, John J. Jr. 1930 births 2010 deaths Chief Scientists of the United States Air Force Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni