Merle T. Welshans, Ph.D., emeritus professor of finance at Olin Business School, died Sept. 26, 2009, in St. Louis. He was 91.
Welshans taught at the school from 1957-1969. He left Washington University to become financial vice president of Union Electric Co., now Ameren, until his retirement in 1983. Welshans was a recipient of the University’s Distinguished Alumni and Faculty Award and has an endowed scholarship in his name.
Welshans participated in Olin’s “Korean Project” in the late 1950s that supported faculty exchanges between WUSTL and Korean universities to help the latter develop programs in business administration.
Active in St. Louis civic life, Welshans served on the boards of McKendree College, Saint Paul School of Theology, St. Louis College of Pharmacy, The Governmental Research Institute and the Missouri United Methodist Foundation.
He also served on the boards of several New York and Los Angeles investment companies and served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Deaconess Hospital Foundation. He was an active member of the Kirkwood United Methodist Church.
Welshans was preceded in death by his wife of 58 years, Mary Katherine. He is survived by two daughters, a son, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Donations in memory of Welshans may be made to Kirkwood United Methodist Church, 201 W. Adams Ave., Kirkwood, Mo. 63122.
— Melody Walker