Biography

Now in his ninth year as the eighth President of William Paterson University, Dr. Richard J. Helldobler’s commitment to student success as a pathway to opportunity and social mobility is rooted in his personal journey as a first-generation college graduate of immigrant parents and his professional experience over more than three decades of innovative teaching and leadership across higher education.

Since joining William Paterson in 2018, Dr. Helldobler has led the University through a period of transformation and growth focused on putting more life-changing college degrees into the hands of students who are changing the social fabric of New Jersey and our nation. Under his leadership, WP launched several initiatives to advance access, affordability, and success, including Pledge 4 Success, which fills financial aid gaps for qualifying students; Will. Power. 101 & 102, a first-year experience program that improved student retention; Student Success Teams, which provide each student with a dedicated group of academic, financial aid, and other advisors and mentors; and WP Online, which, in five years, has opened new markets and grown to offer dozens of fully online undergraduate, graduate, and adult-completer degree programs and certificates aligned with industry workforce needs.

President Helldobler is making William Paterson a “Powerhouse of Progress”, and the University’s position in the top 2.9 percent of institutions nationally in CollegeNet’s current Social Mobility Index is just one measure of success.

President Helldobler has been widely recognized for his accomplishments on behalf of William Paterson, as well as his contributions to higher education leadership development. He received the 2025 ACE Council of Fellows Mentor Award and the 2024 ACE Reginald Wilson Diversity Leadership Award. He has been recognized for his leadership by top business publications, including being named to the Education Power 50 list by NJBIZ and a 2026 Higher Education Influencer by ROI-NJ. He is an inaugural recipient of the NJBIZ Executive Excellence Award.

Recognizing that the professional success of WP’s employees is directly connected to the educational success of its students, President Helldobler led implementation of an award-winning Summer Professional Development program, and WP was named to the “Great Colleges To Work For” list (2025-26) and twice named to Forbes’ “Best Employers in New Jersey” list (2024-26).

President Helldobler serves on the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Board of Directors and its Committee for Student Success, as well as the board of the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities. He also serves on the boards of the N.J. Pride Chamber of Commerce and LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education, where he chairs its Presidents Council and is a past Board President. Among other publications, he is a contributor to “LGBTQ Leadership in Higher Education” (R. Crossman, 2022).

A trained dancer and theatre director, he earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in Theatre from Bowling Green State University and his B.B.A. in Marketing from the University of Toledo.