John Welty

John D. Welty, a native of Amboy, Illinois, was the seventh and longest-serving president of Fresno State University before retiring on May 8, 2013. He was appointed president on July 29, 1991. Before coming to Fresno, he had previously served as president of Indiana University of Pennsylvania for seven years. Welty received a doctorate in administration of higher education from Indiana University Bloomington in 1976.

In recognition of his highly productive career in higher education, Welty was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Western Illinois University, where he completed his undergraduate studies in 1965 before going on to Michigan State University.

On August 17, 2012, Welty announced that he would retire as president of Fresno State in the summer of 2013.