ACE awarded Richard Helldobler, president of William Paterson University (WP), the 2025 ACE Council of Fellows/Fidelity Investments Mentor Award today at the
ACE Fellows Program 60th Anniversary Celebration.The Council of Fellows/Fidelity Investments Mentor Award is presented annually to acknowledge the substantial role of mentors in ACE Fellows Program participants’ success. Helldobler has mentored six Fellows and nominated four Fellows.
Since its inception in 1965, the
ACE Fellows Program has strengthened institutions and leadership in American higher education by identifying and preparing more than 2,500 faculty, staff, and administrators for senior positions in postsecondary education leadership. More than 80 percent of Fellows have gone on to serve as chief executive officers, provosts, vice presidents, and deans of colleges and universities.
“President Helldobler’s former mentees admire him for his vision, generosity, candor, and continued support beyond the fellowship year,” said Juanita Banks, director, ACE Fellows Program. “Through his investment in the Fellows Program, he has shown tremendous devotion to nurturing tomorrow’s higher education leaders.”
2025 Council of Fellows Mentor Award recipient Richard Helldobler (left) with Patrick Vaughan of Fidelity Investments.
A graduate of the ACE Fellows Program (2005-2006), Helldobler has mentored six Fellows: Ralitsa Akins, vice provost, University of West Georgia; Lori Ciccomascolo, provost and vice president for academic affairs, Springfield College; Erick Howenstine, professor, Department of Geography & Environmental Studies, Northeastern Illinois University; Colleen Nolan, former dean of natural sciences and mathematics and professor of biology, Shepherd University; Russell Porter, deputy ethics officer, Texas A&M University System and professor of management, Texas A&M University-Central Texas; and Kara Rabbitt, associate provost for academic initiatives and adult and professional studies, William Paterson University. He also nominated four Fellows: Howenstine, Nolan, Porter, and Rabbitt.
“I am extremely humbled, honored, and grateful to be recognized by the Fellows program, which changed the professional trajectory of my own career,” Helldobler said. “This award demonstrates that my work has, in turn, repaid the efforts of all those who have mentored me throughout my career in higher education. At a time when higher education needs courageous and diverse leadership more than ever, there is no better program than the American Council on Education Fellows Program.”
Since 2018, Helldobler has served as president of WP, a public institution with nearly 10,000 students in Wayne, New Jersey. His work is grounded in serving students for whom education is a means of social mobility and economic progress.
Under Helldobler’s leadership, WP has introduced new programs to broaden access, increase retention and completion, and expand inclusivity. He instituted WP’s Pledge 4 Success program, which provides grants to qualifying students that make up the difference between financial aid and tuition and fees. He also oversaw the creation of WP Online, a learning platform offering more than 25 fully online graduate degrees, which expanded to add more than a dozen undergraduate programs due to overwhelming demand. In addition, he established a Center for Diversity & Inclusion, Black Cultural Center, Center for Latinidad, and led the launch of a first-year experience program that has resulted in first-year student retention gains above the national average.
Helldobler has lent his leadership to numerous organizations. He is the past president of the board of LGBTQ Leaders in Higher Education, an organization he helped create. He also serves on the boards of the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities, the New Jersey Presidents’ Council, and the New Jersey Pride Chamber of Commerce, and he is a member of the New Jersey Athletic Conference Presidents Council.
Helldobler has more than 30 years of experience in higher education. Before leading WP, he served as interim president and provost and vice president for academic affairs at Northeastern Illinois University. He was also vice president for academic affairs at Shepherd University, and he served as associate provost/associate vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College of Liberal Arts at California University of Pennsylvania. In 2024, he received ACE’s Reginald Wilson Diversity Leadership Award for his commitment and contributions to diversity in higher education throughout his career.
A first-generation college student, Helldobler earned a PhD in theatre and a master’s in speech and theatre from Bowling Green State University, as well as a bachelor of business administration in marketing from the University of Toledo.
Since his fellowship, Helldobler has maintained a close connection to the ACE Fellows Program. He is a former chair and secretary of the Council of Fellows Board, and he has chaired its Finance and Development, Outreach and Engagement, and Professional Development Committees. He received the ACE Fellows Service Award in 2015, and he continues to interview prospective Fellows, serve as a panelist at the program’s retreats, and guide Fellows who reach out for his advice.
“President Helldobler’s exemplary leadership has made a lasting impression on higher education, and his impact is felt deeply by all who work with him,” said Sangeeta Moorjani, head of tax-exempt market at Fidelity Investments. “His keen insight and passion for giving back play a pivotal role in shaping a new generation of leaders and changemakers.”
Since 2008, Fidelity Investments has been a generous supporter of the ACE Fellows Program, empowering the Council of Fellows to provide support for the discretionary fund of the Mentor Award winner’s institution, as well as the Fellows Fund for the Future, which provides stipends to help cover costs of sponsoring a Fellow for qualified institutions.