2019 Chancellor Winner: Dillon Asmus

Dillon Asmus takes his studies seriously — and his hobbies seriously too. A business administration major with concentrations in information systems/business analytics and management, Asmus also is a competitive snowboarder, something he hopes to continue as a sideline in the future.

Asmus, who minors in emergency preparedness, homeland security and cybersecurity, earned a Scholarship Program for Analysis and Research in Cybersecurity (SPARC) scholarship, offered to cybersecurity majors or minors.

The Long Island native says one of the University activities he is most proud of is co-founding the Mock Trial club and seeing it grow from two to 140 members, with more than 30 on the competitive team.

“The most important thing I've gained from UAlbany is the understanding of opportunity,” Asmus said. “I've taken full-advantage of every opportunity given to me and even created some for my own.”

For the past two years, Asmus has been a student assistant for the New York State Office of Information Technology Services. This, along with being a research assistant for the Digital Forensics Program, exposed him to many aspects of information technology and business.

Throughout his undergraduate college career, Asmus developed and maintained a relationship with Ernst & Young. He was a part of the trajectory program, an experiential learning course offered for credit. This summer he will be an intern in the firm’s Times Square office in its technical advisor program.

Asmus plans to return to UAlbany in the fall to complete the graduate information security certificate program.

As for his long-term goals: “I plan on being a chief information security officer for an organization of my choosing,” he said. “I also plan on being a competitive snowboarder, but that’s only for the weekends.”