Welcome Wade Wilson Sr. (March 17, 1928Dawson, Jennifer, "Welcome words of Wilson wit and wisdom", ''Houston Business Journal'', May 2, 2008, page 1, retrieved online May 1, 2009 – February 16, 2024) was chairman of the Welcome Group—a privately held

real estate development Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw Real Estate, land and the sale of developed land or parce ...

firm with 5 million square feet of industrial and manufacturing facilities in over 100 locations in the state of Texas. The company headquarters is located in Houston, Texas (

USA 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 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

). He previously served on the Board of Regents of the University of Houston System, and was a 1949 graduate of the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

Early life and education

Wilson graduated high school in 1944. He attended

Texas Southmost College Texas Southmost College (TSC) is a public junior college located in Brownsville, Texas, United States. History Early history Texas Southmost College was established in 1926 under the name of The Junior College of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, ...

, and graduated with an

Associate of Arts An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

degree in 1946. Later that year, he enrolled at the

. In 1949, he graduated with a

Bachelor of Business Administration A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is an undergraduate degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of four years and typically 120 credits of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of busine ...

degree. While at the University of Houston as a student, Wilson worked for '' The Cougar'' as an advertising seller under Johnny Goyen, and later as business manager. He resided on-campus at the makeshift residential area of Army surplus trailers of the university mainly for veterans known as "Veteran's Village". Following his graduation, he went to work for the university as the assistant director for the now defunct College of Nursing where he raised money for scholarships and recruited nursing students.

Awards and achievements

Wilson graduated from the

in 1949 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. He received the University of Houston's Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1970, as well as the University of Houston's College of Business Administration Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1996. On September 30, 2010, the University of Houston named Wilson as Chairman of school's Tier One campaign. He also served as chair of the UH System Board of Regents for 3 years. Wilson graduated with an Associate of Arts degree from

in 1946, and received its Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2005. In 2018, he also received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the UT Rio Grand Valley. Wilson received the Arthur S. Flemming Award as one of Ten Outstanding Young Men in Federal Service in 1958. The Arthur S. Flemming Award was established in 1948 to honor outstanding federal employees. Recognized by the

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 ...

, agency heads, and the private sector, the winners are selected from all areas of the federal service. The Texas Business Hall of Fame named Welcome Wilson Sr. as a Legend and Honoree in 2011. Most recently in May 2011 Wilson was named "Entrepreneur of the Year" by the Houston Technology Center.

U.S. federal government service

Welcome W. Wilson served in the

Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

and

Kennedy Kennedy may refer to: People * Kennedy (surname), including any of several people with that surname ** Kennedy family, a prominent American political family that includes: *** Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. (1888–1969), American businessman, investor, ...

administrations as a five-state Director of Civil and Defense Mobilization, a division of the

Executive Office of the President The Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP) comprises the offices and agencies that support the work of the president at the center of the executive branch of the United States federal government. The office consists o ...

. He also had responsibility for five states of what is now known as

FEMA The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

. In 1966 he was appointed Special Ambassador to

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

by President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

. He was a witness to the Atom bomb tests in Nevada in 1954 and the Hydrogen bomb test at

Bikini Atoll Bikini Atoll ( or ; Marshallese language, Marshallese: , , ), known as Eschscholtz Atoll between the 19th century and 1946, is a coral reef in the Marshall Islands consisting of 23 islands surrounding a central lagoon. The atoll is at the no ...

in the Pacific Ocean in 1956.

References

External links

UH System Board member profileWelcome Group
* Wilson, Welcome and Joseph Pratt
Welcome Wilson Oral History
Houston Oral History Project, September 17, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Welcome W. Sr. 1928 births 2024 deaths American businesspeople Businesspeople from Houston University of Houston System regents University of Houston alumni