Office of the President
May 16, 2022


Dear William Paterson Faculty and Staff,

Commencement week is finally here, and I want to thank you all for your good work this year in getting the Class of 2022 to this momentous point, where they will soon collect their hard-earned degrees. I am so looking forward to this week’s activities, including tonight’s University Student Honors Awards Ceremony, Wednesday’s Prudential Center Undergraduate Commencement ceremony, and Thursday’s Graduate Commencement ceremony in our Sports and Recreation Center. This is a very special milestone in the lives of our graduates and their families, and my hope is that we all do everything we can to celebrate them and let them know how proud the entire WP community is of their accomplishments. I look forward to celebrating with all of you who will be joining us for one or more of these ceremonies.

Following up on last week’s news that Dr. Gamin Bartle has assumed the role of Interim Chief Information Officer, I am pleased to report that Gamin’s previous role is being filled by Patrick Ryan, who is now serving as Acting Director of Instruction & Research Technology. Patrick has been with William Paterson for 23 years, serving most recently as Associate Director of IRT, since 2015. The Broadcast, Production & Support unit, which Patrick leads, became indispensable during the pandemic as many instructional and other operations went fully remote and then hybrid, providing critical streaming communications for departments throughout campus. He has overseen classroom technology, including designing and installing learning technology at 1800 Valley Road. You'll see Patrick and the entire IRT Team hard at work at the Undergraduate and Graduate Commencements later this week as they provide AV and production support for these important ceremonies. I want to thank Patrick for agreeing to serve in this new role, and I know WP will continue to be well served across all areas of IT and IRT. 
This week’s WPWe are Proud – Congratulations to all the players and coaches of William Paterson Pioneer Baseball, which made a perfect run through the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Baseball Tournament to seize the trophy with a 10-4 victory against Kean on May 10. It was the Pioneers’ 13th NJAC Tournament title in program history, and their first in 25 years. Congratulations, also, to senior outfielder Dan Carter of Bloomfield, N.J. on being named NJAC Player of the Year and to Head Coach Mike Lauterhahn, who was selected as the Jeff Albies Coach of the Year! Check out wpupioneers.com later today to see where the team lands in the NCAA Tournament draw, scheduled for 12 p.m.

Have a great Commencement week!
Sincerely,

Richard J. Helldobler, Ph.D.
President
Office of the President | 973.720.2222 | [email protected]