STEUBENVILLE, OHIO—Dr. Michael Welker, professor of economics at Franciscan University of Steubenville, has been appointed the inaugural director of Catholic Business Management and Entrepreneurship in the Department of Accounting, Business Administration, and Economics.

Beginning in the fall 2020 semester, Welker will help the department more fully implement its mission “to provide students with an education that is grounded in real-world best practice and illuminated by Catholic social thought,” said Dr. Thomas Kelly, department chair.

Among his duties, Welker will develop new ways for Business Department faculty to present Catholic social teaching applications to business, create presentations with the School of Theology and Philosophy looking at contemporary business issues from a Catholic perspective, and teach Theology 320: Catholic Social Teaching.

Working with faculty and students, he will implement faith-based activities geared toward assisting managers and entrepreneurs. He will also bring a Catholic perspective on contemporary business stories to the media in interviews and articles.

“I am honored for this opportunity to support of the Business Department’s mission to become a leader in the promotion and implementation of Catholic social teaching within a free market environment,” Welker said.

“I look forward to being able to work in a collaborative and prayerful way to advance the mission of Franciscan University in this unique and much-needed area of scholarship and practice.”

Welker has been teaching economics and business at Franciscan University since 1994. He has a PhD in international economics from Kent State University and has worked in the public sector as a marketing consultant and management analyst. He is the author of numerous academic papers on topics such as international economics, the economics of good and evil, and the religious dimensions of economics.

Welker is currently pursuing his MA in Theology and Christian Ministry at Franciscan and is in diaconal formation for the Diocese of Steubenville. He and his wife, Cindy, live in Steubenville and are the parents of seven children and the grandparents of two grandchildren.

For more information about business programs at Franciscan University, visit the Department of Accounting, Business Administration, and Economics.