Glenn Welling, Jr.

Glenn F. Welling Jr. began his career at Xavier University in November, 2019 and assumed the role of Director in September, 2023.   As the Director, Glenn leads the Xavier Veteran and Military Family Center, providing wide ranging support for Xavier’s more than 370 Military-Affiliated students.  Glenn is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the organization over the next 10 years.  He is also responsible for leading the Center’s external relations and fundraising activities that support its operational priorities.

In 2016, Glenn completed 37 years of military service, achieving the highest non-commissioned officer rank of Master Chief Petty Officer, and was subsequently competitively selected to the Command Master Chief program where fewer than 20 percent of eligible candidates are selected.  As a Command Master Chief, he led more than 1,200 Sailors, including a battalion of 450 men and women in combat. Over a 25-year span, he logged more than 5,000 mishap free hours flying Maritime Patrol missions under a variety of challenging and adverse conditions world-wide.  In addition to this operational experience, he served on a number of high-level boards and task forces, including three years as a member of the Secretary of the Navy’s National Naval Reserve Policy Board. 

As the Honor Graduate of the U.S. Navy’s Senior Enlisted Academy (SEA), he was the longest serving military Faculty Advisor in the SEA’s history, serving in that role from 2004 until 2015, where he continued to serve in an Adjunct capacity for the U.S. Naval War College until 2021. A combat veteran, he deployed to Iraq in 2008-2009 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and was awarded the Bronze Star medal.  Other personal awards include the Meritorious Service Medal (2), Navy Commendation Medal (4), Navy Achievement Medal and numerous unit and campaign awards.

Prior to Xavier, he served as the Vice President of Operations for the United Service Organizations (USO) in Arlington, VA.  In this role he provided strategic direction for the USO’s more than 200 locations worldwide. The USO operates with more than 600 employees and 30,000 volunteers who provide programs and services to military service members and their families more than 11 million times each year.  He was responsible for ensuring the organization’s strategic objectives were met through managing external relationships with 18 separately incorporated USO organizations, the Department of Defense, corporate funding partners and internally across eight headquarters departments. 

 Glenn came to the USO in early 2013 after serving as the Executive Director of the Department of Defense’s Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program, where he was responsible for leading and managing the major Department of Defense (DoD) program that provides benefits and services to the women, men and families of the nation's military Reserve Components worldwide.  He successfully built the program over a three-year period from initial Congressional authorities to a fully functional, self-sustaining $48M operation that reached more than 1.2 million National Guard and Reserve service members and their families since its inception.  The Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program works in conjunction with Federal partners, including the Department of Veterans Affairs.  He coordinated directly with members of Congress and their staff, as well as senior Department of Defense officials and directed the efforts of sixty civilian, military and contract personnel to ensure the effective, efficient and economic execution of the program. 

 Prior to 2010, Glenn served for 15 years as a faculty member and Director of the Ohio State University’s Extension Programs in the field of community and economic development in southwestern Ohio. 

Glenn holds a Bachelor of Science in Geography and Environmental Science and a Master of Arts in Economic Geography from the University of Cincinnati.  He is also a 2012 graduate of the Harvard University Senior Executive Fellows Program.