In Memoriam: Vic Helbling

With deep sadness and fond memories, the chapter reports the passing of its friend and fellow board member Victor Helbling on October 6 after a six-month battle with cancer. He was 59. Helbling, the chapter vice president of scholarships and grants, was known as a tireless advocate of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in the San Antonio area. Under his guidance, the chapter's annual educational awards and grants posted year-on-year growth of 40 percent between 2008 and 2012, with more than $63,000 budgeted for 2014. He rarely missed a chance to sound the drumbeat for internship opportunities in the community for high school and college students. Earlier this year, he received the AFCEA Educational Foundation's Distinguished Service to Education Award. The AFCEA mission was a cornerstone of his life, said Helbling's wife, Rosie. Clarke Englund, the chapter's past president, said Helbling's impact upon joining the board in 2008 was immediate, as he helped to streamline the process for awarding scholarships and advertising their availability in San Antonio. “He helped us give away our entire budget for the first time in years,” Englund said. “I believe he made our STEM education program viable, as I don't remember us contributing prior to his joining the board.” Helbling was instrumental in the growth of the chapter's annual event and in using it to highlight the accomplishments of high school students from the San Antonio BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) robotics competition. He also led the charge for the creation of scholarship funds benefiting information assurance students in programs at the University of Texas-San Antonio, Texas A&M University-San Antonio and Our Lady of the Lake University. The scholarship, on Chapter President Bill Morrow's recommendation, will be named in Helbling's honor. “I drove all over San Antonio with Vic to deliver large checks to schools, teachers and students. He had a passion for serving our community and advancing education. We love and will miss him, but the scholarships will take his name well into the future,” Morrow said. Helbling, who immigrated to the United States at age 8 from Argentina, served 25 years in the Air Force, where he was a certified software engineer, project manager and chief information officer before retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 2000. He then worked as a project manager and PMP-certified information technology project manager for software development in industry and government. He was widely published in technical journals, such as the “Journal of Information Management,” and was a national award recipient for implementation of the Software Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model. Helbling earned a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, a Master of Science in research and development management from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and a Master of Science in information management from Creighton University. He also was a certified Spanish linguist and officiated three years as an examiner for the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award. He is survived by his wife and four children: Riki, Toni, J and Annie.

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