GODFREY – Lewis and Clark Community College Welding faculty members are leaders in their field.

Currently, adjunct faculty Robert Lee serves as chair of the American Welding Society St. Louis Section, with Welding Technology Coordinator Travis Jumper as first vice chair. Jumper will begin his two-year term as chair in June 2019.

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Lee began his career as a welder for Central Mine Equipment Company. He was accepted into the apprentice program with Ironworkers Local 392, later becoming a journeyman ironworker and earning his Associate in Applied Science in Welding Technology.

Lee has become a well-known Certified Welding Inspector and instructor for both Lewis and Clark and Southwestern Illinois College, where he holds the faculty title of Assistant Professor. He also teaches for the Ironworkers Local 392 Apprentice Program and for major area corporations, advancing their employees with professional skills development.

In addition to serving as AWS chairman, he also serves on the AWS National Membership Committee, serves as a Skills USA Judge for the Illinois State Welding Events, and is a Skills USA National Judge.

“I enjoy molding young minds through welding education here at Lewis and Clark Community College, thereby giving them marketable skills and a vision for their future,” Lee said.

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Jumper is a 2017 recipient of the Howard E. Adkins Memorial Instructor of the Year Award for District 14 of the AWS. He received the award for the St. Louis Section in 2016 and was Lewis and Clark’s Emerson Electric Excellence in Teaching Award recipient the same year.

Jumper, of Bethalto, joined Lewis and Clark in April 2012 and began developing the welding program curriculum. The program opened and was filled with students by the second eight-week session of the fall semester that same year and has only grown since. He has been a longtime advocate of vocational and career programs in education.

“The last 6+ years have been a whirlwind of activity, but the experience has been both challenging and fun,” Jumper said. “We work closely with our district high school welding/agriculture instructors and their guidance counselors to help educate their students on employment options within the welding industry. We were able to create a curriculum from scratch and build up the program in a way that maximizes the skills of the students and prepares them for a variety careers in the welding industry – careers that range from welders and fitters, to engineering and weld inspection, marketing and sales, truck driving, equipment repair, education and many more.”

Lee and Jumper are just two of seven faculty members in L&C’s Welding Technology program. Together, two full-time faculty members and five adjunct faculty members have a combined 180+ years of experience working in the field.

For more information on the Welding Technology program at Lewis and Clark, visit www.lc.edu/program/welding or call (618) 468-4931.

For general enrollment information, visit www.lc.edu, or call (618) 468-2222 or (800) YES-LCCC.

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