Tip of the hat

Nathan Balasubramanian is involved in numerous campus activities, including the Student Government Association, while working toward two graduate degrees. (Photo by Erin Pence)

To say Nathan Balasubramanian wears many hats is putting it lightly.

The Wright State University grad student is not only president of the Graduate Student Assembly, he is also chief policy officer for the Student Government Association.

In addition, he serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council for College of Education and Human Services and works as graduate assistant in the recruitment division for the University Center for International Education.

There’s more. He also serves as the graduate associate for region IV-E of the NASPA — Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.

“I would like to move into public policy,” Balasubramanian said. “I see myself going for a public office. I’m looking at international organizations like the U.N.”

But first there is the small matter of getting his master’s degrees. Plural.

Balasubramanian is double majoring in educational leadership, with a concentration in student affairs in higher education, and in cybersecurity.

Balasubramanian grew up in a small town in the Tamil Nadu in southern India, the son of a father who is in the export business. After he earned his bachelor’s degree, Balasubramanian looked at hundreds of American universities to pursue a graduate degree and was drawn to Wright State because of its cybersecurity program.

“It’s not offered by a lot of universities,” he said. “And at a university like Wright State, I can grow with it.”

Many of the instructors also work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and have real research connections, he added.

When Balasubramanian is not studying or serving in one of his many organizations, he enjoys aviation-related adventures. He is currently working on his sport pilot license and is looking into going skydiving.

“I’m an adventure freak,” he confesses.

Last winter, Balasubramanian went skiing and snowboarding for the first time.

“It doesn’t snow in India, where I grew up,” he said. “So it was new for me.”