The Campaign for UB
Philip and Elayne Wels Athletic Scholarship Fund
This versatile fund — established by one of UB’s top athletes — allows the Director of Athletics to provide annual athletic scholarships.
Established by Dr. & Mrs. Philip B. Wels and other donors, this scholarship fund provides crucial support to UB Athletics.
As an undergraduate at UB, Philp Wels founded the UB fencing team (he would later become its coach) and represented the U.S. on the 1936 Olympic fencing squad. His accomplishments earned him inclusion in the inaugural group of former UB athletes and coaches inducted into the UB Athletic Hall of Fame in 1965.
Even after earning a bachelor’s, master’s and medical degree from UB, Dr. Wels continued to give back to the university. He served as the chair of the UB Council, honorary chair of UB's 150th birthday celebration, and assistant dean at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (Dr. Wels was a board-certified surgeon and clinical professor of surgery.) "It’s important that we, as the UB community, try to help our institution," he explained.
“It’s like the old (John F.) Kennedy quote, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.’ I feel obligated to help this university.”
