Hobart and William Smith Colleges Athletics

Herbert J. Welker '41 was regarded as one of the best basketball players in Hobart history as well as starring in football and lacrosse. He served as captain of the 1941 basketball team and Coach Babe Kraus called him the "finest basketball player Hobart had to the time he graduated." Welker also earned All-American honors in lacrosse as a senior and was a leading member of the football team. A class leader, he was vice president of his class all four years and was a member of the Druids, Orange Key, and Chimera honor societies. He entered the U.S. Navy immediately after graduation and became a highly decorated dive-bomber pilot. He earned the Distinguished Service Cross, Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters and was killed in action in the Philippines in October of 1944 during his second combat tour. The Hank Welker Scholarship, set up by his friend Jack Henry '38, is presented annually to the student best representing his contributions and accomplishments.