Welcome W. Wilson, Sr., Chairman / CEO wwilsonsr@gslwelcome.com

Welcome W. Wilson, Sr. has been in real estate development and finance since 1955. In addition to being Chairman/CEO, he also serves as Chairman of River Oaks Financial Group, Inc., a mortgage banking, real estate development, and brokerage firm.

Mr. Wilson is Chairman of the Board of Regents of the University of Houston System. The UH System comprises four universities and 56,000 students.

In addition to developing more than 100 industrial properties, Mr. Wilson has been the Chief Executive Officer of real estate firms, which have developed over 1,000 apartment units, multiple shopping centers, downtown office buildings, several hotels, and over 8,000 subdivision lots.

His past business activities include being Chairman of three financial institutions in Houston.  In the 1960s and 1970s, he was Chairman of Aberdeen Petroleum Corporation, an American Stock Exchange Company, as well as director and second largest share holder of the Houston Astros Baseball team.

Mr. Wilson held presidential appointments from Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson during the 1950's and 1960's. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from The University of Houston, where he received its Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1970 and The College of Business Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1996.  In 2005 he was named the Distinguished Alumnus of Texas' Southmost College where he received an AA degree before attending the University of Houston.  He served in Japan as a U.S. naval officer during the Korean War.