The Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at Fairfield University’s Charles F. Dolan School of Business empowers students to explore new career paths while preparing them for the demands of a dynamic workforce.
For MBA candidate Steve Neustadter-Schneider, Dolan’s MBA program serves as the perfect bridge between his background in research and his interest in business. His journey to pursue an MBA degree—like that of many others—was driven by the desire to make a career pivot.
After earning his undergraduate degree in biology from Stockton University, Neustadter-Schneider spent a year as a postgraduate research associate at Yale University, where he worked on both neuroscience research and AI-related projects. Concurrent to his research at Yale, he worked as a project manager and digital director at the Neurorights Foundation (NRF), collaborating on the management of stakeholder relations with universities, corporations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and governments, within the context of neurotechnology and data privacy.
During his time with NRF, the foundation helped secure the unanimous passage of neural data protection laws in Colorado and California, with other contributions made at the state level in Latin America.
The challenges of working in neurotechnology data privacy at NRF sharpened Neustadter-Schneider’s belief in the value of continuous learning and sparked his desire to transition into the world of business.
A key reason Neustadter-Schneider chose Fairfield Dolan’s MBA program was its customizable concentration options, which catered to his interest in finance and investment analysis. He also appreciated that Fairfield Dolan’s coursework is focused on real-world applications of continuously developing topics such as AI. “Fairfield Dolan’s MBA is a program that evolves,” he said, “meeting students where they are in the field.”
With guidance from Fairfield Dolan faculty and staff, Neustadter embarked on the finance concentration track and began to see the many ways in which his technical AI coursework could be translatable to actionable business strategies. “Students need to know how to apply AI,” he said, “not just how to construct it.”
At a Dolan Career Development event, Neustadter-Schneider networked with prospective employers and met representatives from Castleton Commodities International (CCI), a global energy commodity merchant headquartered in Stamford, Conn. He has since been hired by the company to work as a merchant operations and finance rotational associate in the physical gas and oil markets space. The rotational opportunity has allowed him to connect his analytical background to operations in finance and supply chain management, with exposure to a variety of areas.
Networking events like the one Neustadter-Schneider attended are hosted each fall and spring semester by Fairfield Dolan’s Career Development Center, providing support to both undergraduate and graduate students. They give MBA candidates the chance to connect directly with employers on campus—regardless of what stage they are at in their career or whether they are looking to pivot—and forge relationships that can lead to opportunities in the workforce.
