Carol Welt, former assistant vice provost for research and executive director of the Office for Sponsored Programs at UConn, died on June 11, 2014 at the age of 77, after an eight-year battle with cancer.
Welt was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Susan (Maurer) and Joseph Welt on Jan. 28, 1937, and attended Lafayette High school. In 1957, she graduated from Brooklyn College with a degree in anthropology. She completed her master’s and doctoral degrees in anthropology at the University of Chicago, eventually becoming a senior scientist at the Waisman Center within the University of Wisconsin, where she worked in the biomedical field, becoming one of the pioneer researchers studying brain neurophysiology. Her research has been extensively cited.
Welt also worked at the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C. for two years, where she administered the Division of Behavioral and Neural Sciences. She further served on several advisory committees for the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
Before coming to UConn in 2002, Welt held the positions of associate dean of research at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and associate dean at the New York University School of Medicine.
When she retired in September 2007, she was assistant vice provost for research and executive director of the Office for Sponsored Programs at UConn.
Welt was a member of the Society for Neuroscience, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Council of University Research Administrators, and the International Society of Research Administrators.
She was an avid learner and reader, who never lost her love for science and research. She also loved to travel and to attend the theater, visit museums, and go to art shows. Her life-long appreciation of the natural world included remarkable adventures, such as hiking in the Grand Canyon, Ireland, and Austria, and she maintained an active interest in the Sierra Club. Concerned with the well-being of those around her, she volunteered with the local chapter of the American Red Cross and Hospice of Eastern Connecticut. She belonged to the UConn Women’s League, and was a member of the Bnai Israel Congregation in Willimantic, Conn.
Welt is survived by her son Jeremy Welt of Los Angeles, Calif., and her many friends.
In lieu of cards or flowers, please consider making a contribution in her name to the Sierra Club or Hospice of Eastern Connecticut. If anyone would like to share memories or a story about Welt, please use this email: jeremyct2014@gmail.com. A memorial event will take place on June 21 from noon to 3 p.m. at the University of Connecticut Foundation, 2390 Alumni Dr., Storrs. Arrangements were through the Potter Funeral Home, Willimantic.
