John Delery
John Delery, Walton College Professor and department chair, management, Sam M. Walton College
of Business. John Delery served as director of the Walton Honors Program during a
period of rapid growth, from just over 500 students when he took over in fall 2015,
to more than 830 students when he stepped down in fall 2020 –– an increase of more
than 65%. In fall of 2016 the program added an honors advisor to complement the work
done by Associate Director Jason Adams. During the 2017-18 academic year Delery and
Walton honors staff embarked on a program to benchmark business honors programs across
the U.S. This effort led directly to Walton College hosting the inaugural conference
of business honors programs in spring of 2018; 25 programs were represented in this
initial conference and meetings have continued.
During his time as director Delery oversaw several changes to the academic requirements, including the expansion of internship theses and the addition of Walton College honors courses and colloquia. He also ensured that Honors College colloquia count towards Walton honors graduation requirements. Additionally, Delery revived a college-level Walton honors committee that includes one member from each academic department. This committee has increased engagement and oversight of the program by the faculty.