Alumni

From roller coasters to cybersecurity leadership

Stephanie Peterson talks about the program that helped her navigate college

As an eighth-grade student, Stephanie Peterson (then Stephanie Beban) went on a school field trip that sparked an interest in engineering — by way of roller coasters.

This happened back in the 1990s, when Peterson and her fellow Reno students were traveling by bus to California’s Great America, the Santa Clara theme park and home of scream-inducing thrill rides.

“We had to do these math worksheets on our way there, and I learned that there was something called engineering and that (engineers) are the ones that make roller coasters,” Peterson said. “I wanted to do that.”

She just wasn’t sure how. She was the daughter of a single mom who hadn’t gone to college, a self-described “poor kid,” who — while very smart — was one of those kids “getting into trouble, not taking anything seriously and definitely not focused.” 

Today, she’s a successful graduate of the College of Engineering’s Mechanical Engineering Department. And while she doesn’t design roller coasters, she’s had a long career in the tech industry and is a staunch advocate for the University’s TRIO programs — federally funded programs supporting students from income-qualified or first-generation backgrounds — that she credits for her success.

She recently received the College’s Scrugham Medal, given to distinguished alumni, and has been recognized by the national nonprofit Council for Opportunity in Education as a TRIO Achiever.

“She’s just amazing — she’s brilliant and she’s so humble,” Ellen Houston, executive director of the First Generation Student Center (FGSC) said.

The FGSC manages the University’s TRIO programs, which serve first-generation students. Among those programs is Upward Bound, which supports high school students and has been on the University campus for the past 55 years.

It was this program that Peterson participated in as a Wooster High School student.

“I wouldn’t have made it through high school without (Upward Bound),” Peterson said. “I wouldn’t have even considered college, and I definitely wouldn’t have thrived in college.”

And thrive she did — and credits many mentors and friends with supporting her along the way. Those include Engineering Interim Dean Indira Chatterjee, one of her instructors at the time, and fellow mechanical engineering student Candice Bauer, now Engineering’s Assistant Dean for Assessment, Compliance and Evaluation.

“We spent a lot of time studying together in the ASME (American Society for Mechanical Engineering) lounge,” Bauer said. “All of our classes were in Palmer (Engineering building), so we would just listen for each other.”

Peterson and Bauer graduated in 2001 with bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering. Peterson went on to hold key roles at Microsoft and Meta as well as raise a family. Currently, she is the senior director of cybersecurity compliance at Microsoft.

She also works with the University’s FGSC, which currently serves about 1,100 high-school and college students through its various programs. Completing a full circle, Peterson now shares her story with first-generation students at the beginning of their journeys.

“She’s so great with our students,” Houston said. “She talks about how she grew up and where she grew up, and our students can relate to that.”

For more about the Scrugham Medal, see our Scrugham Medal webpage.