Tom Welch
M.A. in Secondary Education, ’88
Named to the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1993

Tom Welch currently serves as a program consultant for the Kentucky Department of Education where his main area of responsibility revolves around the reinvention of the secondary school system in the state. Previously, Mr. Welch was "Director of Seeding Innovation”, for the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development’s Office for the New Economy. In that position he was responsible for conceiving of and directing K-16+ education initiatives that blured the lines between economic development and education. In these capacities, as an “edupreneur” he works closely with business, community and governmental agencies. His work for the Department of Education has him deeply involved with Kentucky’s aggressive initiatives for redesigning the secondary experience and helping all parties understand the inextricable links between education and economic development.

A native of Nebraska, Mr. Welch holds degrees from Asbury College and the University of Kentucky. Mr. Welch has served in a variety of education-related positions, first as a classroom teacher (Kentucky Teacher of the Year, 1992) and then curriculum consultant at KDE. More recently he was the first principal of East Jessamine High School in Nicholasville, where, for six years, he was a teaching principal, insisting that all administrators also teach one class every day. During his time as principal, he taught speech, an introductory math class, history, humanities, French and a class in entrepreneurship.

Always an ardent revolutionary when it comes to school reform, Mr. Welch uses his passion for student learning as the key ingredient for helping create a healthy, vital community.