Vanoy Welch

Vanoy Welch grew up in eastern New Mexico and graduated from Clovis High School in 1981, graduating at the top of his class. Awarded the President’s Associates Scholarship from NM State University, Welch majored in Electrical Engineering. While at university, Welch was a Crimson Scholar, belonging to Eta Kappa Nu, Electrical Engineering Honor Society, Tau Beta Pi, and Engineering Honor Society. Welch began his career with the National Security Agency (NSA) at Fort Meade in Maryland. He attended Johns Hopkins University’s Whiting School of Engineering, earning his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering. Early in his career, Welch was a member of a small team that designed speech coding algorithms for STU-III, used for classified communications. He authored and co-authored numerous technical papers, presented at technical conferences around the world, and contributed to the first-generation digital cellular standards. Welch has enjoyed a 40-year career with the NSA as a technical expert working across departments, including the Department of Defense, the intelligence community, and with U.S. Allies.