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Jonathan Noel "Jon" Helfat (SPA/BA '68) is a partner at Otterbourg, Steindler, Houston & Rosen PC, specializing in corporate bankruptcy. While studying political science at AU, Mr. Helfat was a member of the Men’s Basketball team and Tau Epsilon Phi. As an alumnus, he was previously a member of the President’s Circle Council and chair of the John Fletcher Hurst Society, a giving society through the annual fund that supported academics, student financial aid, and operational costs.

Mr. Helfat currently serves on the board of directors for the Lauri Strauss Leukemia Foundation and the executive committee for the Commercial Finance Association. He is a member of numerous professional associations, including the New York Bar Association, Association of Commercial Finance Attorneys, Association of the Bar of the City of New York, American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers, American Bar Association, and American Bankruptcy Institute.

Mr. Helfat formerly served as a leadership council member of the Commercial Finance Association Education Foundation, the vice president of the Knickerbocker Cup Foundation, and the president of the Port Jewish Center in Washington, New York.

In addition to his undergraduate degree from AU, Mr. Helfat holds a JD from the University of Louisville and an LLM in corporate law from New York University.

He is married to Robin E. Helfat, a homemaker. The couple resides in Sands Point, New York. They have two adult children, Joshua N. Helfat and Benjamin D. Helfat.

In August 2006, Mr. Helfat pledged the funds to create SPA’s first endowed professorship, the Jonathan N. Helfat Distinguished Professor of Political Science, through the Helfat Faculty Development Fund. Dr. Karen O’Connor, founder and director emerita of SPA’s Women and Politics Institute, currently holds this position.