Pushing Ahead while Giving Back: Dominic Ortega '10 BSBA (MIS)

Transforming from a successful student into an award-winning alumni with the desire to give back, Dominic Ortega ’10 BSBA (MIS) shows what it means to be a true Wildcat.

For Ortega finding the right path didn’t come intuitively. “As a pre-business student, I knew I wanted to pursue MIS, but didn’t know specifically what concentration,” he says. His passion to pursue MIS with a focus in information assurance and security came one day after watching an online video. “I watched a video of someone hacking a Wi-Fi password,” he says. “So I purchased a router, typed a random password, followed the same steps, and right there in front of my eyes was the password that I had just cracked. From then on, I knew I wanted to go into computer security.”

Ortega is now the Director of Information Security at American Express. He uses his degree in MIS to run the Global Cyber Threat Management and Incident Response team. Every day, Ortega and his team work on the front line of defense responding to the ever-present threat of cyber-attacks.

In 2019 Ortega was the recipient of the Young Professional Achievement Award from the University of Arizona Alumni Association. This award recognizes extraordinary accomplishments of University of Arizona alumni who are under 40 years old and who have attained prominence in their field demonstrating expertise. Ortega is extremely grateful to have been given this award and believes “this demonstrates how well Eller and the MIS programs prepare students to join different organizations and make an immediate and valuable impact.” 

Following his acceptance of the Young Professional Achievement Award, Ortega decided to give back to the MIS program in the form of a donation, “I’ve always believed in giving back to the people and institutions that helped shape me,” he says. Ortega values the memories and positive experiences that Eller was able to give him, and carries the diverse life-lessons he learned as a student with him every day.