Welge Named to LSU Alumni Association Hall of Distinction

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Donald Welge, of Chester, Ill., was inducted into the Louisiana State University Alumni Association 2012 Hall of Distinction during ceremonies at the Lod Cook Alumni Center on the LSU campus March 30.

Welge has served as president and CEO of Gilster-Mary Lee Corporation since 1965. He joined Gilster Milling Company in 1957, immediately after earning a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics and helped build the organization into a $900 million dollar dry food private label manufacturing company. He is most recognized in Baton Rouge for his partnership in the Mary Lee Donut Shop franchise company.

Welge was inducted along with distinguished scholar, author and international business consultant John S. Butler, of the University of Texas at Austin, who was named Alumnus of the Year, and Dallas Cowboys linebacker Bradie James, named Young Alumnus of the Year.

Also inducted were Kurt Culbertson, chairman of Aspen, Colo.; Aspen, Colo.; Joseph D. Fail, of Bay Springs, Miss.; David B. Means III, of Gloster, La.; James P. Richards, Jr., of Fort Worth, Texas; and Claude O. West, of Minden, La.

Welge is actively involved with numerous professional, community and civic groups and has served on the boards of or as an officer of the Perryville, Mo., Chamber of Commerce, Chester Chamber of Commerce, the Okaw Valley Boy Scout Council, St. John's Lutheran School and Buena Vista Bank, currently serving as president of the bank's holding company. He was named Southern Illinois Business Leader of the Year in 1988, the Chester Post Veterans of Foreign Wars Citizen of the Year in 1986 and 2001, and the Chester Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year in 1992.

A major benefactor of the Department of Agricultural Economics & Agribusiness, Welge has contributed generously to the department's five scholarships and supports a professorship. He has maintained strong ties with LSU, the LSU AgCenter, and the College of Agriculture and served for many years on the college's alumni board. He received the College of Agriculture Outstanding Alumni Award in 2003 and served on the Dean's Strategic Planning committee in 2009-10.

Don and Mary Alice Welge will celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary in August of this year. They have two sons, Rob - an LSU graduate - and Tom, both of whom are in business with their father, and four grandchildren.