Jasper Welch has 50 years experience in planning, executing and evaluating advanced concepts in the aerospace industry.
He received a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1958. He has published a number of landmark professional journal articles and the graduate text, “The Atomic Theory of Gas Dynamics” (1966). He has been elected by his peers to be a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (1976) and the National Academy of Engineering (1980).
His thirty-one year career in the United States Air Force included assignments at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Air Force Weapons Laboratory, the RAND Corporation, Air Force Headquarters, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the National Security Council. He retired in 1983 in the rank of Major General with decorations to include the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Legion of Merit (awarded three times) and the Distinguished Service Medal (awarded twice). Shortly after retirement he was awarded the Wanner Prize of the Military Operations Research Society in recognition of lifetime achievement.
Since 1983 he has been a consultant for government and industry. For the government he has served on the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, the NASA Advisory Council, the Science Advisory Group on Effects of the Defense Nuclear Agency and for many years as Chairman of the Military Advisory Panel to the Director of Central Intelligence. Additionally, he has been an advisor to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Defense Science Board, the Secretary of the Air Force and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
For industry he has been a technical consultant for leaders of several major aerospace corporations. He was a member of the SAIC Board of Directors from 1984, retiring in 2003. He remained an active consultant for the company until 2007. He has served on top-level advisory bodies for Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Lincoln Laboratories and several major aerospace firms. He served on the University of California oversight board for the Los Alamos and Livermore National Laboratories. Additionally he has served on several corporate Boards of Directors.