Back in September, 2003, Ed Welburn stepped into a job that has previously been held by his “absolute heroes,” GM designers Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell. As Global Vice President of Design at General Motors, he is leading GM into it’s second century of innovation. It is a career that first interested him when he was 11 years old.

Welburn’s father owned a body shop in Philadelphia. “In those early days, I was surrounded by cars,” he recalls. Young Welburn wrote a letter to GM inquiring about a future job as a car designer. A helpful reply suggested what direction he should follow at school, and gave details of an internship program. Since the 1930s, GM had been active in developing interest in automotive design careers, particularly through the Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild, which ran until 1968.

Welburn took the letter’s advice to heart and won an internship of his own. After graduating from Howard University in Washington D.C., he was hired full-time by GM. From the early 1970s onward, he worked at several GM design divisions, including Oldsmobile. It was there, in 1987, that his ticket got punched. Working with engineers at the division, Welburn designed and oversaw the build of an aerodynamic, high speed concept car, called the Oldsmobile Aerotech.

With A.J. Foyt at the wheel, the all-out speed machine achieved a top speed run of 417 km/h (260.6 mph). “For me, it was one of my most significant projects. I worked on the marketing and communications for it, not just with the engineers, in a way I had never done before. I’ve had a passion for aerodynamics ever since.”

Following this very public achievement, Welburn’s rise through the GM executive organization has been rapid and impressive. Today, the challenges in delivering new and innovative products are greater than at any other time in the company’s history. Whether in spite or because of this, Welburn confides, “I’m having more fun now than at any other time during my career at GM.”

With the tools and technology that are available to Welburn and his team, we’re pretty sure that Earl and Mitchell would be confident of the company’s future success.