From Buddhism to Cybersecurity: Dustin Natte ’20 MS MIS

Sometimes, it doesn’t matter where you start your business path or even how much experience you have as a professional. Sometimes, all that matters is having the motivation to move forward. This is a lesson well-learned by Dustin Natte ’20 MS (Management Information Systems).

Natte enrolled at the University of Arizona as a graduate student in East Asian Buddhism, with the aim of becoming an academic professor in the field.

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“After pursuing this goal for some time, I found myself slowly losing interest. That obviously made me realize I needed to change my career path.”

While he pondered his next steps, he worked in various disciplines—from financial services specialist to project management assistant—at Arizona and was eventually introduced to the world of data analytics, system integration and project management.

“I found myself very intrigued,” says Natte. “However, I didn’t have the background required to easily enter the field, so I felt somewhat discouraged at first.”

Even though the switch was daunting, it didn’t stop Natte from applying to the online Master of Science in Management Information Systems program at the Eller College of Management.

When he was accepted into the program, his excitement was mixed with anxiety over how little prior knowledge of MIS he possessed. But Natte accepted the challenge despite the uncertainties.

And though he completed the program online, Natte made it a priority to fully immerse himself in the Eller community, through career fairs, studying and interacting with his peers and taking advantage of group projects.

“During the fall of 2017, I was required to complete an IT Security report with a partner. I was still very hesitant on whether I was in the right place, but my partner on the project ended up becoming somewhat of a mentor to me and reassured me of my decision,” explains Natte. “It was experiences like this at Eller—of which I had many—that gradually made me more confident in my new career path and in myself.”

And soon, Natte was able to put his newly developed MIS skills into action. From an Eller-hosted career fair, he was offered an internship in June 2020 as a summer analyst for MUFG Union Bank.

“One of the best parts of my Eller experience was being able to combine the people skills I had learned in my humanities background with my new technological skills learned through Eller’s MIS program into one internship,” says Natte.

He was then offered a full-time position at MUFG as a cybersecurity governance and oversight analyst, where he is now responsible for managing risk, analyzing cybersecurity technologies and disseminating information on cybersecurity trends throughout the company.

“If I learned one thing throughout all my experiences, it’s to persevere,” he says. “During the limbo before my career switch, it seemed like everything was pointing toward ‘no.’ I’m so glad I kept working toward a new goal, with the help of the Eller community, because I’m now in a job I love.”