PROF TED WELCH RECEIVES EMPEROR'S MEDAL
On April 29, 2004, Emperor Akihito of Japan decorated Professor Theodore F. (Ted) Welch with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette for his outstanding contribution to the promotion of U.S. – Japan relations. Dr. Welch is professor of Japanese in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures and Director of Development at the Center for Japanese Studies at Portland State University.
Dr. Welch has contributed to the mutual understanding of both cultures through his work in two areas: comparative librarianship and language instruction. For twenty five years he was a member of the American Library Association Committee on Liaison with Japanese Libraries, serving as Chair for over ten years. From 1969 through 1994 he organized and implemented a series of bilateral library conferences that focused on policy and technical issues of concern to higher education in the U.S. and Japan. He has written, co-authored or edited five books on Japan, most of them dealing with libraries and information science in the context of bilateral social and educational values. His major library-related publications include Libraries and Librarianship in Japan; Toshokan: Libraries in Japanese Society; Strengthening the U.S. Japan Library Partnership in the Global Information Flow--the Fourth U.S. Japan Conference; Proceedings of the Japan-U.S. Seminar on Library Technology in Higher Education; and twenty-seven articles on Japanese librarianship and libraries in the Encyclopedia of Japan. He has authored many journal articles and is principal author of the popular business handbook, Japan Today; a Westerner's Guide to the People; Language and Culture of Japan.
Prior to his present post at PSU, Dr. Welch held the positions of Cultural Affairs Officer and Regional Librarian for the United States Embassy in Tokyo; Chief of Information Systems at the United Nations Centre for Regional Development in Nagoya, Japan; Assistant University Librarian for Development at Northwestern University Library; Executive Director, Northwestern University Center for the Study of U.S.-Japan Relations; and Director of Libraries at Northern Illinois University. At Northwestern and Northern Illinois, Dr. Welch revived Japanese language instruction at all levels and was the sole instructor of Japanese at those institutions for many years. He received his Ph.D. in Library and Information Science from the University of Tokyo in 1976. He also holds degrees from the University of Southern California (BA) and University of California at Berkeley (MLS).
Dr. Welch was honored by the Japan-America Society of Chicago with a lifetime membership in 1999 for his thirty years of dedicated service to the Society as a board member and chair of the scholarship program that awarded over $100,000 to Chicago area students.
The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette will be forwarded from Tokyo to the Consulate-General of Japan in Portland and conferred upon Prof. Welch by Consul-General Tadashi Nagai on May 26, 2004.
Dr. Welch resides in Beaverton, Oregon with his wife Marilyn and daughter Allison.
Further information: 503-356-1805
Ted Welch
Director of Development
PSU Center for Japanese Studies
503-356-1805