He has an undergraduate degree from Harvard (thesis on the Tomb of the Jade Jaguar that he discovered as a student intern at Tikal in 1965); a Master’s degree from Brown University (focused on Teotihuacan art continuing in the Maya areas in the Late Classic, after Teotihuacan itself had collapsed); and three different post-graduate research positions at Yale University (starting in 1968 for archaeology of Peru, then with an OAS grant with Dr. George Kubler in art and iconography of Mesoamerica, followed by an appointment by Dr. Michael D. Coe for iconography and ethnobotany of the Classic Maya).

Dr. Hellmuth’s PhD is from the University of Graz (Karl-Franzens Universität). His dissertation studied the iconography and cosmology of the Surface of the Underwaterworld in Early Classic and Late Classic Maya art. Previously he was a research professor in digital photography at Rollins College (Florida) and later at Brevard Community College (Florida). Hellmuth was also a Guest Visiting Professor in Wide Format Inkjet Digital Printing and Digital Photography at Universidad Francisco Marroquín for several years in Guatemala City.

Currently he focuses on field work on flora, fauna, and biodiverse ecosystems of remote areas of Guatemala, especially plants and animals that appear in Classic Maya art.