Meet our President
Dr. Richard E. Herman
President
Dr. Richard Herman became the fourth president of Wheat Ridge Ministries on January 1, 2006. He joined Wheat Ridge in 1992 as Vice President and was appointed to Vice President/Chief Operating Officer in 2002. As vice president, Rick managed Wheat Ridge Ministries’ grant program ministry and other programmatic issues and was also responsible for strategic planning, human resource issues and office management.
Rick has served various ministries of the Lutheran Church for the past 30 years. He began his professional career first as a teacher, then principal of Lutheran High School of South Florida in Fort Lauderdale. Rick also served as principal of St. Paul Lutheran School in Boca Raton, Florida. In 1986, he began service to the Florida-Georgia District of The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod as Executive Director for Parish Services, a position he held until he accepted the call to Wheat Ridge Ministries.
In addition to his bachelor’s degree from Concordia University Chicago, Rick also holds a master’s degree and an educational specialist’s degree from Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida. He continued his post-graduate studies at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. In 1991, Rick was honored by his alma mater, Concordia University, with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
Rick is a former president of the national Lutheran Education Association (LEA) and served as chairperson for the Conference of LCMS Education Executives (CONFEDEX). He has written articles for several journals, including Lutheran Education, and is the author of On Board, a quarterly resource for Lutheran school boards.
Rick and his wife, Debra, an associate professor of art at Concordia University Chicago, are the parents of two daughters, Kristy and Katie.
