'14 Dr. Lyle Hellyer
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- Title:
- President
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- Year:
- 2014
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- Position:
- Lifetime Contributor
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- Team:
- Indian Hills Community College
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- IHCC Years:
- 1961-01
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- Career Highlights:
- College President • Vice President • Dean • Started multiple athletic programs
For 40 years, Hellyer made a lasting impact on the athletic programs at Centerville Junior College, Centerville Community College and Indian Hills Community College. A former high school coach in Missouri, Hellyer was hired in 1961 as the Dean of Centerville Junior College. He later became the Vice President of Academic Affairs and, in 1973, Hellyer was named President of IHCC, a job he held until his retirement in 2001. Two years after he arrived in Centerville, Hellyer started a football program on campus and it quickly became one of the top junior college programs in the country. Hellyer also started the volleyball program on the Ottumwa campus in the 1990s and he strengthened the other sports at the college during his tenure, making every one of them a national title contender. Under his presidency, there were an unprecedented three straight national championships in basketball, a national title in golf, 11 national tournament appearances in softball and five trips to the Junior College World Series for the IHCC baseball team. From his retirement home in Arizona, Hellyer has maintained a keen interest in the college's athletic programs.