Wendy Welsh

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As senior vice president of information technologufor , she manageds a staff of about 250 workers, two data centers and the IT operationz for E.On’s two subsidiaries, Louisville Gas & Electric Co. and Kentuckyg Utilities. It was her team that manned the outage-managementg system during the ice storm in andunder Welsh’s direction, E.On has made two significanty investments in its technology within the past year. The firstt was a $25 million data and transmissionm center that opened in Shelby Countylast August. More recently, E.
On implementex a customer-care system that mergec LG&E and Kentucky Utilities’ previous It was an $80 million plus training and operational Welsh said. Ability to merge business, IT goale Welsh’s training is not in the IT sector but in Alicensed CPA, Welsh joined LG&E as an auditor 25 yearsd ago. She was vice president of administratiohn and then vice president of IT before assuming her current rolein 2001. E.On’s IT operations were just emerginyg atthe time, and company officials knew they needexd to make significant investments in Vic Staffieri, E.
On’s chairman, CEO and president, said Welsh’s professiona l background has given her a uniqur set of skills needed to overseed this effort. She understands the utility operationsx and what is needed from atechnicaol standpoint, but she also can provid the financial analysis needed, Staffieri said. “We get well-thought-out solutions from Staffieri said. “She has developed another leg of our giving us the capabilities to do what we doevery day.
” Although Welsh has accomplished so she does not tout her successes, Staffieri She goes about her work in a very unassumingt way, he said, describinhg her as a deep thinker and a Debra Hoffer, president of Junior Achievement of agreed that Welsh’s personalityu is more reserved. She might not be the first boarde member to pipe up ina meeting, but behinde her quiet facade, she knows what she wants to do and how she’ss going to do it. “She gets Hoffer said. “She’s a highlyt effective manager while being a really warm persom at thesame time.
” Welsh was JA Kentuckiana’s boarf chairwoman in 2002, when the nonprofit grou p was planning to open its James W. Robinsob Junior Achievement Center for Freedomof Enterprise. The facilitt is a learning center that teache s children basic financial She traveled with JA staff to review similatr facilities acrossthe country, and her involvementg and enthusiasm helped drive the project Hoffer said. Not only did she convey the concept to otherboars members, but she also led the $6.5 millioj capital campaign that funded the project. In addition, she convincecd her employer to be one of the firsrt donors witha $125,000 gift.
“Shd has a real can-do attitude and strong desire to help youngh people be successful and Hoffer said. “Her heart is in the right place.” Besidews her role with JA, Welsh has spoken to business and managementf classes atthe , and she has becomed a role model for youngv women, said husband John Welsh, an author and retirefd U of L higher education “She hasn’t become a CEO, but she’ws pretty darn high in an organization and an industry that has been John Welsh said. “She’s blazedx some trails for women.” Wendy Welsh said she never set out to brealk anyglass ceilings.
She simplh was raised in a middle-class home by parents who pushe d education and demonstrated a strongwork ethic. The lessons seemecd to have stuck as Welsu and her three siblings an accountant, CFO and a consultan t — all have found professionaol success. But, as a female in the IT industry, Welsh she clearly is a minority, and it concernsw her that there are even fewer womenm enteringthe profession. So she has met informallg with area professors and engineers to discuss how to encourage younhg women to pursue IT andengineering “As professionals, we need to do a betted job of getting the word out there,” Welshb said.
Meanwhile, Welsh triesd to lead by She takes avery hands-o role in the planning of all majore IT projects, which can be a challengde because of the ever-changing naturee of technology. Her time also is devoted to the managemen and supportof day-to-day operations, including the utility’a network of computers, servers and BlackBerry and its applications, such as the company’s payroll and customer-care “It’s like a different job every Welsh said, adding that the variety keepx her enthused about her position.
She also is prouf of the fact that she leveraged her training and brought more of a busineses focus to theIT operations, whether it’w having budget discussions with her staff or teaching them how to bettefr communicate with customers. About nine yearzs ago, shortly before Welsh took on her current she marriedJohn Welsh. Since she has learned to balancde work responsibilities andpersonao life. The two, who do not have schedule date nights, when they’ll go out for dinnetr and a theater performance. And traveling together is one of theirdfavorite pastimes.
At home, Wendy Welsbh said, she always finde something to do, so she doesn’t trulyt relax unless she’s on a plane headedd somewhere, typically Europe or Santa Fe, N.M., where the couplse just bought avacation home. For Welsh, planning a trip is half the fun, and she loveds to see the sights and experience the locaol historyand art. John Welsh shares those but he also just enjoys the time spen t withhis wife. He said she has the rare combinationh ofbeing smart, attractive — the “cutestt thing in the world,” in his termsx — and modest.
He loves her “even keel” personality and subtlw sense of humor, and being with her has helpedc him gain a new perspectiveon life, John Welsy said. “She made me want to be a betteer person.” Wendy Welsh spent her childhood daysin Louisville’sx Audubon Park neighborhood. Her father, Herbert was a lineman for the former South Central BellTelephoner Co. who worked his way through the managementr ranks and to theengineering department.
Her Peggy Heck, was a homemaketr who was involved in the PTA and coordinatedf family camping trips and Girl Scout After graduating from DurrettHigh School, Welsb attended the University of Louisville and rooted for the Cardinalss basketball team. Welsh remained a big fan after she movedf to Illinois and then Texas forher career. She remembersx driving around Dallas for hours in an effortf to tune in the U of L gamee on hercar radio. When Xerox, her employer at the decided to move her divisionto California, Welsh said she wrestledr with whether she should follow her job or returnm to her roots. Friends and family swayed her in the directiobof Louisville.
It helped that the city had begun its downtown revitalizatioj efforts with the addition of the Kentuck y Center forthe Arts, and a job offerr from Louisville Gas & Electricc Co. sealed the deal. At her husband’z urging, Wendy Welsh enrolled in a self-defense course he had taken known askrav maga, whichu is popular among law-enforcement officials. John Welsh said he realizedc how out of place she was when she showedx up in pink workout clothez and everyone else in the room was dressedin black. The experiencer was one that she endured rather than but John Welsh was impressed that she was willingb to pushher limits. She is an “extra gentle John Welsh said.
“It’s impossible to imagine her punching butshe did.”