Jack Welch, a native of Salem, Massachusetts, received his B.S. degree in chemical engineering from the University of Massachusetts in 1957 and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1958 and 1960.

  Mr. Welch joined GE in 1960 and was elected Vice President in 1972 and Vice Chairman in 1979. In 1981, he became the eighth Chairman and CEO in GE's 118-year history.

  Since Mr. Welch became Chairman, GE's market capitalization has grown from $12 billion in 1981 to more than $280 billion in 1998 - the largest in the world.

  Mr. Welch pioneered high-involvement workforce ideas such as Work Out and promoted speed, simplicity and self-confidence throughout GE. Coupled with Six Sigma quality and an emphasis on boundaryless behavior, these values enabled GE to harness the intellectual benefits of a multi-business enterprise, thus making the whole company greater than the sum of its parts. His early insistence that all GE businesses be first or second in their markets was instrumental in making GE a leading global competitor in industries ranging from jet engines to plastics and from locomotives to financial services and broadcasting (NBC). Today, GE is the world's largest diversified manufacturing, technology and services company, with 1997 revenues of more than $90.84 billion.

  Mr. Welch is a former chairman and a member of both the Business Council and the National Academy of Engineering and is a member of the Business Roundtable.

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