At a special event on Wednesday, January 25, Dr. Anthony J. Cernera, president of Sacred Heart University announced that  the University's College of Business will be named for the legendary former Chairman and CEO of the General Electric Company: John F. Welch, Jr.

Identified throughout the world of business simply as “Jack,” he was associated with GE for an incredible 41 years. Fortune magazine has called him the Manager of the Century, and BusinessWeek dubbed him “one of the greatest innovators of the past 75 years.”

As part of his commitment to the University, Mr. Welch has volunteered to be actively involved with the John F. Welch College of Business through ongoing advice and guidance. He will assist the College as it continues its mission of providing students access to a top-quality education and preparation for careers in business. Further, he is providing the largest gift in the University's history to assist students in financial need and to foster faculty development and research.

Dr. Cernera pointed out that Mr. Welch's decision to lend his name and support to the College of Business is a truly transforming moment for Sacred Heart University. He expressed the “immense gratitude of the entire University community” for Mr. Welch's personal endorsement of the University's mission of providing superior educational opportunities so that students can make a very positive difference in our society.

Mr. Welch noted that “I see myself in many of the Sacred Heart University students, and I strongly support the University's mission of providing them access to a top-notch education. While I was at GE, I watched Sacred Heart University's tremendous growth. The job that has been done there is just phenomenal. The University is poised for greatness, and I want to be part of the next phase of its transformation and growth.”

In the 20 years that Mr. Welch led GE, the neighboring institutions developed a close working relationship, and scores of SHU alumni are now employed there. Last May, Mr. Welch addressed a standing-room-only audience of more than a thousand people at the University.

During his tenure at GE, Jack Welch became famous for recruiting and developing executive talent. He insisted that globalization had changed his company into one that searched the world, “not just to sell or to source, but to find intellectual capital – the world's best talents and greatest ideas.” His new partnership with Sacred Heart is a clear endorsement of the College's core mission: to attract the best and the brightest, and to help prepare them for participation – and leadership – in the changing world of business. 

Dr. Cernera noted that Mr. Welch was “attracted and energized by Sacred Heart's very deliberate mix of theoretical learning and its practical applications. Our Business faculty includes scholars with academic and corporate connections around the world as well as business practitioners of the first rank. And our students have numerous – and growing – opportunities to meet with and learn from the area's business and community leaders.

“I know that Jack is particularly impressed with Sacred Heart's mission of providing opportunity and access to students who are like himself: men and women of ordinary circumstances who possess extraordinary drive and potential. This new affiliation will ensure that Sacred Heart University will be there for generations to come to provide that environment and opportunity.

“Business students across the globe know and study Jack Welch. Clearly, he could have chosen to partner with any institution of higher education in the world. He chose Sacred Heart because he recognizes in us enduring principles that lead to successful business practitioners and successful human beings.”

John Francis Welch was born in Salem, Massachusetts, and is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts. He earned his master's and doctoral degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois, joining the General Electric Company in 1960. A little over 20 years later, he became the youngest CEO in GE's history. During the next two decades, he made the corporation into a global powerhouse, and his leadership style has been analyzed and imitated the world over. During his tenure, GE's market capitalization increased by $400 billion, making it the most valuable corporation in the world. Now a sought-after consultant to businesses across the globe, as well as a best-selling author, Mr. Welch is the principal of a consulting firm known as Jack Welch, LLC.

Dr. Cernera pointed out that Sacred Heart University “has been providing business education since 1965. That's just two years after our founding. Today, fully 28 percent of our undergraduates major in Business, and more than a third of the bachelor's degrees we awarded last May were in that discipline. With hundreds of men and women in its MBA programs, here and in Luxembourg, Sacred Heart is one of the state's largest graduate business schools. Surrounded by more than 50 of the nation's largest corporations – not to mention GE, whose headquarters is just a mile down the road – the University is ideally situated for business education.”

The John F. Welch College of Business will be one of four distinct and independently managed colleges at Sacred Heart University. The others are the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Health Professions, and University College, which serves working men and women with a variety of innovative programs.

The second-largest Catholic university in New England, Sacred Heart enrolls more than 5,600 men and women in undergraduate, master's, and doctoral-level course work. For nearly 15 years, it has offered its MBA program in Luxembourg, in the heart of the European Union. Recent innovations include the establishment of a second European campus, on the west coast of Ireland, and the creation of the new Center for Strategic Planning for Not-for-Profit Organizations. The latter engages MBA students in guiding the efforts of area non-profit agencies as part of their capstone course of studies.

The University continues to earn widespread recognition. It made the top tier in U.S. News & World Report's listing of Best Universities in the North. Intel recently ranked Sacred Heart 11th in its assessment of the “Most Unwired Campuses in America” – those schools, that is, that provide the academic community with exceptional wireless connectivity. And the Princeton Review selected SHU for inclusion in its 2006 edition of Best Northeastern Colleges. In addition, for an unprecedented 12th year, Sacred Heart University earned statewide honors for its volunteer service efforts.

From its inception, Sacred Heart was a pioneer since it was the first Catholic university in America designed to be led and staffed by lay people. Today more than half the Catholic colleges in the United States follow that model. The new John F. Welch College of Business is a major milestone in the University's continuing growth and development.

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