Rev. Dr. John C. Welch
Rev. Dr. John C. Welch, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, where he received a BS degree in Chemical Engineering & Economics. Soon thereafter, Rev. Welch began a productive career in computer technology and management systems working for a number of corporations such as IBM, Grubb & Ellis, and Deloitte & Touche.
Rev. Welch is also a graduate of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, where he received a Masters of Divinity degree and a Ph.D. from Duquesne University in Healthcare Ethics. He served the Bidwell United Presbyterian Church for 7 years, and is currently serving as Vice-President for Student Services and Community Engagement, as well as Dean of Students of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
Active in the community, Rev. Welch has served and continues to serve on various boards and advisory committees. He served on the Community Research Advisory Board of the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Minority Health (CRAB), the Board of Directors of the Rankin Christian Center, co-chaired the Religious Affairs Committee of the Pittsburgh NAACP and was Chairperson for the Advisory Board of Centers for Healthy Hearts and Souls. Rev. Welch was appointed to the City of Pittsburgh’s Ethics Hearing Board in 2006 and served for 6 years. He served as President of the Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network (a coalition of churches, mosques, temples, synagogues, meeting houses and other faith- and non-faith-based special interest groups and institutions, working to promote regional equity and social justice in the Greater Pittsburgh area.)
Currently Rev. Welch is a member on the Advisory Board of the Metro-Urban Institute of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary; is Chair of the Board of Directors of the Gamaliel Network of Chicago, Illinois; serves as adjunct faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh Katz Graduate School of Business; as an adjunct faculty member for the University of Pittsburgh Consortium Ethics Program; and has been the Chief Chaplain for the City of Pittsburgh Bureau of Police since 2008. Rev. Welch also serves on the Ethics Committee for Forbes Hospital of the Allegheny Health Network.
Rev. Dr. John Welch has been recognized by Church Women United, Inc. with their Human Rights Award in 2007, the NAACP as Pastor of the Year in 2007, the YWCA with their Racial Justice Award in 2010, a finalist for the City of Pittsburgh’s 2011 DiverCity360 Living Legend Honors, and the Gamaliel Foundation’s 25thAnniversary Legacy Leader Award. He is married to Rev. B. DeNeice Welch and together they are the proud parents of four children and three grandchildren.