“I am deeply honored to receive this award,” Dr. Reber said. “Throughout my career, I have worked with campus communities to forge collaborations and partnerships with educational institutions, local businesses, health and human services agencies, trades and other unions, elected officials, and many additional community groups to create more opportunities for students, enhance professional development for faculty and staff, and make HCCC and previous institutions I served shining examples for transforming lives and communities. I am exceedingly grateful to my colleagues and community partners for collaborating with me and sharing their ideas, dedication, and hard work.”

One of the most notable achievements of Dr. Reber’s tenure is the creation of the Bellwether College Consortium Award-winning Hudson Scholars Program. Launched in 2021, it has become a blueprint for community college student success nationwide. The program combines proactive advisement, financial stipends, and early academic intervention. Wraparound services through the College’s Hudson Helps Resource Center alleviate food and housing insecurity; address mental health and wellness; provide emergency funding, immigration and technology assistance, food pantries, career closets, and more. Hudson Scholars served 800 students in 2021, has served 5,000 students to date, and will be scaled to all HCCC students over the next five years. The program has resulted in a fivefold increase in two-year college completion rates for traditionally underrepresented students, and a 37% improvement in fall-to-fall retention rates for all Hudson Scholars students. Further, the program has supported a 70% reduction in historic equity and achievement gaps. Financially self-sustaining, the Hudson Scholars Program generates net revenue through its retention and enrollment impact following initial investments that bring students into the student success model.

HCCC students and the entire College community have coined the phrase, “Hudson is Home!” to describe the culture of care that Dr. Reber has led and supported. This sense of care is pervasive throughout the College.

Utilizing data and cutting-edge technologies, Dr. Reber facilitated and supported many highly successful initiatives, including:

• The Office of Institutional Engagement and Excellence champions access, equity, inclusion, and the success of every student.

• The Hudson Helps Resource Center provides support and wraparound services for students in a systemic culture of care.
  
• Paid professional development funding of up to $9,000 annually per full-time employee, contributing to employees designating HCCC as a “Great College to Work For” for five consecutive years;
  
• Creation of the HCCC Gateway to Innovation Program, a Bellwether College Consortium Workforce Development Award finalist;
  
• The Holz Technik Registered Apprenticeship Program with Eastern Millwork, Inc., educates and trains talented STEM students and creates a pipeline of skilled engineers. Apprentices earn Associate and Bachelor’s degrees and have no college debt.

• Collaborations with local, regional, and national educational institutions and organizations, businesses, and trade unions to develop innovative educational and workforce programming;

• The Academic and Workforce Pathways Program for incarcerated citizens, serving over 500 students to date; 53% completed courses with a 3.5 average GPA, and a growing number have completed their associate’s degree; and

• Partnership with New Jersey Reentry Corporation to provide opportunities for previously incarcerated citizens to earn academic and industry-recognized credentials. Of the more than 1,000 students enrolled since the program’s inception in 2021, 83% have completed classes; 70% earned a credential, continued their education, or gained employment; 14 received a proficiency certificate; and 72 enrolled in a GED program.

Dr. Reber advocates for HCCC and community colleges throughout New Jersey and the nation. His higher education leadership includes engagement on many boards, committees, and national associations, including the board of the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF), Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), Community College Center for Student Engagement (CCCSE), Citizens and Scholars College Presidents for Civic Preparedness National Leadership Council, and many more.

“We believe the future of higher education depends on leaders like Dr. Reber who are willing to challenge convention and embrace bold, impactful innovation.  His dedication to the HCCC community is evident through his commitment and extraordinary accomplishments,” said Lenore Pearlstein, owner and publisher of Insight Into Academia. “The 2026 Trailblazer honorees represent the highest levels of strategic leadership in the field, and we are proud to celebrate the extraordinary accomplishments of all the winners.”

About Hudson County Community College

Hudson County Community College serves more than 24,000 credit and non-credit students annually. The College offers more than 90 degree and certificate programs, including award-winning English as a Second Language; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); Culinary Arts/Hospitality Management; Nursing and Health Professions; and Humanities and Social Sciences. The HCCC Culinary Arts/Hospitality Management program was ranked number six in the U.S. by Best Choice Schools. The College’s School of Continuing Education and Workforce Development offers cutting-edge, industry-recognized, stackable credentials in alignment with high-priority workforce needs.

HCCC has partnerships with major four-year colleges and universities in the greater New Jersey-New York area and beyond, accommodating seamless transfer of credits for further undergraduate and graduate education.

The College has received dozens of national awards throughout the years. HCCC was a finalist in seven categories of the 2024 American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) “Awards of Excellence” and earned 2024 CEO of the Year, Faculty of the Year, and Student Success Awards. In 2023, HCCC received the Outstanding Member-Institution Award from the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU).

For the fifth consecutive year, HCCC was selected as one of only a few community colleges in the United States to be named a “2025 Most Promising Place to Work in Community Colleges” by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD). HCCC was one of 22 community colleges in the nation, and the only college in New Jersey to be recognized by ModernThink LLC and the “Chronicle of Higher Education” as a 2025, 2024, 2023 and 2022 “Great College to Work For®” and named to the 2024 and 2023 “Great Colleges Honor Roll of Distinction.”

HCCC is one of two colleges in the United States to be named a Top Ten Finalist in all three program categories for the nationally recognized 2023 Bellwether Awards, and received the 2023 Bellwether Award for the College’s cutting-edge “Hudson Scholars” program, which also won the 2024 Bellwether Legacy Award. 

The College’s exemplary work in advancing student success has been recognized with the 2025, 2024, and 2023 “Leader College of Distinction” designation by Achieving the Dream, the national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing community colleges as catalysts for equity and mobility in their communities. HCCC also earned the Campus Prevention Network Seal of Prevention in 2025, 2024, and 2023 for demonstrating leadership in digital prevention programming focused on student safety, well-being, and inclusion.

The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) recently named HCCC the inaugural recipient of the 2025 ACCT national “Impact and Success Award.”