[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 81 (Wednesday, May 15, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E600]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO RON WELLMAN

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                           HON. VIRGINIA FOXX

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 15, 2019

  Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize Ron 
Wellman, Athletics Director at Wake Forest University, who is retiring 
in May 2019. He leaves as the longest-tenured athletics director in the 
country at the NCAA Division I level, having been named to the position 
at Wake Forest in 1992.
  He has overseen the most successful period in athletics history at 
Wake Forest, which ranks first in the Directors Cup in the Atlantic 
Coast Conference (ACC), while achieving a student-athlete graduation 
rate of 94 percent.
  Under Mr. Wellman, Wake Forest has thrived and has become a national 
powerhouse in men's tennis, men's soccer, and women's field hockey. The 
football program has seen the most successful stretch in school history 
recently as well.
  Wake Forest's accomplishments under Wellman's leadership include five 
team and seven individual national titles, 22 ACC championships, 171 
first team All-Americans and the renaissance of athletics facilities. 
During his tenure, Wake Forest has raised over $400 million in 
philanthropic support for athletics.
  Wellman has also played a significant role in shaping intercollegiate 
athletics on a regional and national level. He served on multiple 
committees, including the NCAA Division I Management Council and was 
chairman of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship 
Committee. Additionally, as former president of the Division I-A 
Athletic Directors' Association, Wellman served on the NCAA Diversity 
Leadership Strategic Planning Committee.
  Wellman's efforts leading Wake Forest have not gone unnoticed. In 
2007-08, he was honored by two organizations: Street & Smith's Sports 
Business Journal named him College Athletic Director of the Year and 
the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) 
selected him as its AstroTurf AD of the Year for the Southeast Region--
the second time in his career he received that honor.
  Off the playing fields, Wellman helped enhance the overall 
development of the student-athlete. He stressed academics and 
instituted programs to assist and develop student-athletes in ways 
outside of competition. Most recently, Wake Forest athletics launched 
its Deacon Leader program, a comprehensive leadership development 
system designed to identify and develop student-athlete leaders from 
their arrival on campus through their senior year and beyond 
graduation.
  Wellman earned his undergraduate degree from Bowling Green State 
University, where he was a pitcher on the baseball team. After 
receiving a master's from Bowling Green, he joined the faculty and 
coaching staff at Elmhurst (IL) College in 1971, serving as head 
baseball coach, assistant basketball and football coach and associate 
professor of health and physical education. Wellman was the athletics 
director during his last five years at Elmhurst.
  I ask the House to join me in recognizing Mr. Ron Wellman, a leader 
of extraordinary conscience and character.

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