Alumni and Friends Making an Impact

Jonathan Rike ’02 speaks of a debt he owes to the University. He’s not talking about student loans. The debt he’s referring to is the way UD faculty and staff shaped his career. Their interest in his success was an investment he wants to pay back.

“I feel this indebtedness, and I have to pay it back,” Rike said, referring to offering mentorship and networking to UD students. “To me, that’s where I can make my biggest investment in the University, and that’s what I love to do because it’s aligned with my passion.”

Rike is the city of Dayton’s chief information officer. He earned his bachelor’s in management information systems and has worked in the information technology field since. Though his field is technical, his daily work is with people.

In October 2000, Rike was a junior in the School of Business Administration looking for an internship. By his own assessment, he wasn’t the most engaged student and, as it was late in the year, he was hoping for a miracle. Shirley Favors in Career Services had just one open internship to share.

The role was with UDit. Rike was less than thrilled — he recalls hating computers at the time — but applied anyway hoping for a regular paycheck. The internship turned into a real love of working with people and a job with great mentorship from his boss, Jacquise Jackson, former UDit assistant CIO for client relations and executive director of IT services.

Rike completed 18 years of service to the University. He started with a UDit internship and ended with a career and a clear path forward.

“I realized I sucked at technology — I’m not an engineer or a programmer,” Rike said, but he did find a wide-open opportunity. “I found this sweet spot in coaching and management, and it has never left me.”

Caden Wade, a first-year computer science major, is a McIntosh Scholar and intern with the city of Dayton’s IT department. Rike takes the opportunity whenever he can to meet with Wade and check in to see how his classes and UD experience are going.

When Wade was working through a challenge, Rike offered a solution: ask for help. “There’s this old thought that men don’t ask for directions,” Rike said. “I told him the best thing you could ever do is ask for a lot of direction; the worst thing you can do is need help and not ask for it. I told him he would be surprised at how many people at the University are willing to help.”

He knows from his firsthand experience as a student and employee. Rike always took the time to check in on the 20-30 students who worked for UDit when he was still working with the department.

After Rike left UD, he knew he wanted to stay involved.

When he was on campus last year to meet with Trevor Collier, SBA dean, about digital equity in the community, he bumped into Logan Manes, a senior management information systems major, in Miriam Hall. Manes and Rike got to talking about Manes’ interest in cybersecurity. Rike was impressed. It didn’t take long for him to message his network about a bright student. “First come, first serve,” he said.

The first person was with Illinois Tool Works. Manes secured an internship through this connection, and he will be working with ITW full-time as an IT analyst after graduation.

“The thing about Logan that I immediately understood was his passion,” Rike said. “In cybersecurity, it’s a pretty depressing job at times — it’s always, ‘the sky is falling’ — and so his optimism and attitude are refreshing. I wanted to try to find an opportunity for this young man.”

Networking comes naturally to Rike, or maybe that’s a skill he honed at UD? Either way he’s built one full of business and technology professionals (some are former UDit student workers who have stayed in touch). He knows utilizing a network is key to getting ahead, whether for himself or for others, and sees his success as an opportunity to lift up others.

“That was all ingrained in me in my time at UD. ‘Learn, lead, serve’ was drilled into me the day I set foot on campus, and it never left,” Rike said. “If I had a nickel for every time I’ve used those three words, I would be Bill Gates.”