Cybersecurity professionals—and partners in life—Rocío Bermudez Ferrer MS ’24 and Arturo Garcia Leal both pursued graduate studies at Fairfield University’s School of Engineering and Computing, building complementary paths in a fast-evolving field.
Ferrer graduated from the MS in Cybersecurity program in 2024; Leal is expected to receive his master’s degree this May, two years after his wife. Leal specializes in IT compliance, controls, and risk management, currently serving as director of IT internal audit at Linde, a global industrial gases and engineering company. Ferrer works as an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions analyst at Western Connecticut State University, where she manages system integrations between the University’s ERP platform and other institutional applications.
Although they work in distinct areas of cybersecurity, Ferrer and Leal frequently exchange perspectives on risk, systems, and security from different angles. Fairfield’s MS in Cybersecurity program has provided a shared academic framework for those discussions, reinforcing core technical skills while broadening their understanding of adjacent areas of the field.
“The program offers a modern and well-structured course plan that aligns with current industry standards and emerging trends,” Ferrer said. “It provided the combination of academic rigor, relevance, and flexibility that I was looking for in a graduate program.”
