Blake Welcher, Esq
Adjunct Faculty Member
He/Him
welcher@callutheran.edu
NA - Adjunct
Areas of expertise: Public Company Board Member with Technical, Business and Legal Foundation
Office Hours: Before/After Class and as scheduled
About
Blake Welcher is a seasoned executive and strategic advisor with extensive experience leading global legal, corporate governance, and licensing operations for public and private companies. A U.S.-licensed Patent Attorney and former public company General Counsel, he combines deep technical expertise with a pragmatic business mindset to guide organizations through complex regulatory, M&A, and intellectual property challenges.
Blake has served in executive and board leadership roles across industries including SaaS, technology, and financial services. He is recognized for his ability to align legal strategy with business objectives, manage international teams, and advise boards on governance, risk, and compliance matters.
Currently, Blake is an Adjunct Professor of Business at California Lutheran University and an active Board Member and community leader supporting entrepreneurial, educational, and nonprofit initiatives.
Education
Certified Director - UCLA Anderson School of Management, Los Angeles, California
Juris Doctorate/Master of Intellectual Property - Franklin Pierce Law Center, Concord New Hampshire
Certified Program Manager - West Coast University, Orange County California
Bachelor of Science Aeronautical Engineering - California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California
Expertise
Blake Welcher brings more than 35 years of technology centric business experience, serving in a number of Board and Senior Executive roles in organizations ranging from start-ups to entities with over 2000 employees.
As a practicing lawyer, an engineer by training, business leader, and an executive with substantial international experience, he is highly respected for his unique mix of legal, business and technical expertise. Blake is also an experienced board member and known for his depth of expertise in corporate governance, licensing operations, risk management, SaaS legal affairs, intellectual property and high-stakes IP litigation which has resulted in some of the highest jury awards in the United States.
For nearly 20 years, Blake served as Executive Vice President, Legal & Licensing Operations, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary for DTS, Inc. (NASDAQ: DTSI) responsible for DTS’ worldwide legal affairs. Blake served on the board of Netlist, Inc. (NASDAQ: NLST) where he was the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee Chair, Compensation Committee Chair and Audit Committee member, and continues today as a Strategic Licensing Advisor. He served as Director alternate for the Blu-ray Disc Association and Vice-Chair of Blu-ray’s Legal & Licensing Committee and was a Director on all of DTS’ private entities. He is a Certified Director from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and is a Stanford Directors’ College alumnus.
Blake’s role at DTS was key in helping to develop DTS into a leading, internationally recognized branded IP licensing company, culminating in its sale to Tessera Technologies (NASDAQ: TSRA) for an enterprise value of $960M.
During his tenure at DTS, Blake was responsible for worldwide legal and licensing operations, corporate governance and compliance, risk management and over all legal affairs. In addition to his daily corporate governance and compliance responsibilities, Blake led all legal aspects of DTS’ immensely successful initial public offering and secondary, raising over $111M, during very challenging market conditions.
Blake started his career as an Aerospace Engineer and program manager working on the Space Shuttle and a number of booster rocket programs.
Holding various officer titles and serving on various boards, has made Blake into a bold and resourceful Executive and Director, capable of making tough decisions and driving performance through profitable strategic planning and tactical actions.
Blake is currently an Adjunct Professor in the School of Management at California Lutheran University teaching both senior level undergraduate students and Executive MBA courses.
Blake holds a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, a Juris Doctorate and Masters of Intellectual Property degree from Franklin Pierce Law Center and is a US licensed Patent Attorney.