Died January 27, 2009 in Vero Beach, FL.

Welch was a port management and transportation system expert. He served as an Army artillery officer during the Korean War. He was awarded the Harry E. Salzberg Memorial Medallion awarded by the School of management at Syracuse University. He was elected chairman of the American Association of Ports Authorities and was named a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Tennessee. The College of Charleston in 1990 created the W. Don Welch Medallion to be awarded for “meritorious contributions to the transportation industry.” In 2004, he was inducted in the South Carolina Maritime Industry Hall of Fame. He received his master’s degree from the College of Arts and Sciences.