Jarad Perry earned his master’s degree in cybersecurity with an emphasis in information systems and technology. He’s now working as a manager of business process improvement at Mastercard. (Photos by Derik Holtmann)

Jarad Perry had been climbing steadily up the company ranks during five years at Charter Communications. In April 2022, he even received a promotion to manager in Charter’s program management office for billing.

But Perry was already starting to contemplate a new direction for his career.

“I was at the point where I’m like, ‘Well, what’s next? What’s the next challenge? What’s the next hurdle?’” Perry said.

Cybersecurity was a topic that had captured his attention, both from listening to podcasts such as Darknet Diaries and seeing its importance in his own work tackling problems like identity access management. He wanted to learn more about it. So, Perry enrolled at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, attracted by the university’s credentials as a national Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense as designated by the National Security Agency.

Jarad Perry shakes hands with Chancellor Kristin Sobolik as he walks across the stage during commencement on Dec. 20 at the Mark Twain Athletic Center.

Last month, after two years in the program, he graduated with his Master of Science in Cybersecurity. Just over a month before commencement, Perry also landed a new position as a manager of business process improvement at Mastercard.

“I’m still getting my feet wet and ramping up and learning, but the job is a continuation of a lot of stuff I’ve done related to project management, program management, process improvement, systems improvements, finding the best way of doing stuff – and from an even more technical perspective, which is something I’m thankful that I’ve learned at UMSL,” Perry said. “I now am able to speak about APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) and speak to architects and understand diagrams better. I understand how systems integrate with each other and am able to speak to developers intelligently.”

Perry had already earned a master’s degree in public policy when he began UMSL’s program, and he’d spent nearly five years working in different roles – legislative assistant, administrative clerk and fiscal and administrative analyst – with the Missouri House of Representatives before moving into the corporate world with Charter.

When he first made the transition out of his job in Jefferson City in 2018, he began assisting customers with government programs, but he eventually shifted into a business analyst role and started working on more technical problems, work that included writing requirements for business systems such as Salesforce.

It was with that background that he decided to pursue the cybersecurity program’s emphasis in information systems and technology through the Ed G. Smith College of Business.

“I’m not so much a technical guy,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot about technical stuff, but I very much focus on technology and security as a business problem. And I appreciate that it’s actually in the business school, and there’s that emphasis on that.”

Amid his studies, Perry made sure to take advantage of other opportunities the cybersecurity program provided, even if he completed the majority of his coursework online.

He joined the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition team, serving as its captain last year. The competition pits eight-member teams from different universities against each other. They are handed control of different systems experiencing vulnerabilities and are challenged to harden them and prevent professional red teamers from infiltrating them. Teams are scored not only on how long they keep their systems operational but also on how many intrusions they detect and how well they respond to business questions.

“It’s a pretty intense eight hours, but it’s really fun,” said Perry, who was part of a team that finished third in Missouri in 2024. “Everybody who’s competed in it has always enjoyed it, and you learn a lot. You learn a lot about systems.”

Perry volunteered at UMSL’s annual cybersecurity conference, STLCyberCon, serving as a student panelist at the event in 2024.

He also engaged in a semester-long independent research exploring ways to enhance security in smart contracts on blockchain ledgers.

Last semester, he served as a teaching assistant for Assistant Professor Le Kuai’s Introduction to Information Security and Advanced Security and Information Systems courses.

Perry was also quick to share wisdom with fellow students, appearing last semester as a guest speaker at an Information Technology and Cybersecurity Club meeting to discuss his experience in project management.

“I cannot praise him enough for being a model student,” said Professor Dinesh Mirchandani, who chairs the Department of Information Systems and Technology. “Students who are committed to learning and also sharing what they know with others to uplift their peers are rare. Jarad is one of those rare students.”

Perry, who was honored with an Outstanding Student Award from the College of Business last May, is grateful he got so involved. It was something he hadn’t put as much energy into when pursuing his first master’s degree as an online student at the University of Missouri–Columbia a decade earlier.

“I’ve had a lot of great opportunities, and I’ve met a lot of really interesting people that I normally wouldn’t have,” he said. “That’s what I tell people. With the college or university experience, especially the graduate experience, you have to really put the effort into it to get the most out of it.”

With his degree complete, Perry is looking forward to taking a break from school, though he would like to eventually teach somewhere as an adjunct faculty member and hasn’t ruled out pursuing a doctorate down the line.

He’ll have to see where his interests take him as his career evolves.

“I never want an easy job,” Perry said. “I will get bored. I will jump into some of the most difficult projects because that’s where you can have the most growth and the most opportunity to make a difference.”