March 18, 2026
‘Super influential’ alum Wesley Doneth inducted into Ferris State’s Welding Engineering Tech Hall of Fame
Wesley ‘Wes’ Doneth is now the 23rd inductee into the Welding Engineering Technology Hall of Fame as a “super influential” alum of Ferris State University’s Welding Engineering Technology program.
Doneth’s career path was fruitful in the early goings, as he graduated from Ferris State’s Bachelor of Welding Engineering Tech program in 2001 and began working at John Deere, Des Moines Works.
Doneth would move onto multiple roles, including section chair and other management positions, before landing his current role as the American Welding Society’s District 11 Director in the Detroit section.
“I really appreciate the honor, and some big shoes to fill considering who’s on the list of inductees,” Doneth said. “I can’t imagine there’s other programs like this one where you end up forming life-long relationships both here and throughout your career. One of the most important decisions I ever made was coming here to Ferris State.”
The Welding Engineering Technology Hall of Fame was established in 2016 to acknowledge the outstanding leaders who not only have excelled and achieved significant success in the welding industry, but most importantly, are intrinsically linked to Ferris State’s Welding Engineering Tech program.
“It’s a way to honor and recognize people who help us get to where we are today. … Welding has been a part of Ferris for a long time, it’s one of its oldest programs or academic curriculum,” said Jeffrey Carney, program coordinator of Ferris State’s WET programs. “We’re a type of program where our alumni like to come back. They’ve given us a crazy amount of support over the years. … Wes has been super influential as one of those alumni, especially in the Detroit section.”
Established in 1984, Ferris State’s nationally recognized Welding Engineering Technology program has maintained about 40 to 50 graduates in recent years and is the largest of its kind in the nation.
The program has responded greatly to constituent feedback to produce plant-level welding engineering technology graduates who are involved in the concept, design and engineering of weldments and implementation of welding processes. This overall knowledge of weldments and the ability to engineer welding and joining systems produces graduates who are in great demand and highly compensated.
Kate O’Connor, dean of the College of Engineering Technology, echoed Carney’s words while noting that the “special sauce” of the program is made up of everyone involved, including students, industry partners, and administration, who help shape the success of Bulldogs who later enter their professional careers.
“Everyone in this room, from Wes to all the past inductees, our current and past faculty, of course I want to thank our students – this is the special sauce that makes everything so wonderful,” O’Connor said.
Ferris State’s Welding Engineering Technology Hall of Fame is in Swan Hall on the Big Rapids campus.