MADISON — A seed planted by South Dakota legislative and higher education leaders four decades ago has blossomed into one of the nation's top high-tech universities located in a small city in the rural midsection of the state.

The story of how Dakota State University rose to become a powerhouse in cyber technology academics, job creation and research is one of ingenuity, strong leadership and a bit of fortuitous timing.

Those factors have combined to build DSU into a university that has received well over $140 million in public and private donations over the past decade. The university has developed numerous working partnerships with government and private industry, and it's expanding its campus with a massive research and development facility in Sioux Falls. Soon, DSU could become a leader in research into the world's next major technology breakthrough in quantum computers.

And it all began at a time when the future of the entire university itself was in question.

In 1984, the South Dakota Board of Regents, under pressure to cut its budget, closed its Springfield campus and the state turned it into a women's prison. The late Gov. Bill Janklow that spring also signed a law that changed DSU's mission to focus on technology in all academic programs, a hopeful effort called, "A Brand New Day."

The decision to reinvent a teacher's college founded in 1881 into a technology-focused university in a somewhat isolated rural city of 6,000 people may, in retrospect, seem like a risky move.

But as told by current DSU President Jose-Marie Griffiths, the new focus on tech dovetailed with the decision by financial giant Citibank to move its credit card operation to Sioux Falls, an hour’s drive from Madison.

"Citibank was in need of mainframe programmers. And as a result of that, somebody came up with the idea that, well, we could turn this college that's fumbling a little bit into a computer school with software development and engineering," Griffiths told News Watch. "That way, we could supply the needed programmers to the Sioux Falls workforce for Citibank and ultimately for others, and I guess the advantage of proximity was in favor of Madison."

Starting with computer science

In 1984, while still known as Dakota State College, a name used until 1989, the initial jump into technology came with the creation of a bachelor's degree in computer science using a curriculum from IBM. With a mix of private and public funding, the university was able to slowly but consistently expand its facilities and academic offerings, she said.

In the early 2000s, a further step forward came when DSU began to focus on cyber security.

Enrollment has risen steadily, from 867 in 1985 to 1,801 in 2000 and to 3,509 in 2023. The number of female students enrolled in technology programs has jumped about 300% in recent years, according to DSU data.

DSU now offers 44 degrees, including seven master's degrees and four doctoral programs. Upon graduation, 99.7% of students in 2022 got jobs or went further in their educational journey, the university said.

Shift toward research

In her time at the helm, Griffiths has pushed for funding and infrastructure to conduct research and develop doctoral programs..

In 2017, DSU launched the Madison Cyber Labs, or MadLabs, facility on campus. An $18 million research building is at the heart of what overall was a $40 million program to expand research into cyber security, digital forensics, machine learning and artificial intelligence, among others.

Up next for DSU is an expansion into Sioux Falls, where thanks to roughly $100 million in combined public and private funds, DSU will build an off-campus Applied Research Lab on the city's northwest side.

DSU's next big venture will be to lead a multi-campus effort to expand research in South Dakota into quantum computers, which are far faster and more capable than any of the largest, most complex supercomputers.

"Obviously, there's a sense of excitement around innovation because it doesn't just happen everywhere," said Griffiths, 72, who told News Watch her job as DSU president will be her last before retirement.

Alexis Kulm of Sioux Falls said she had several employment options upon graduation from DSU in December 2022 with a degree in cyber operations.

Kulm, 23, took a job at Sanford Health in Sioux Falls, where she works at the secure operations center, helping keep computer systems and information safe from errors or outside cyber attacks.

"What I heard a lot during the interview process was, 'Oh, you're from DSU, I know about them,'" she said. "It's a small school, but it's very well known."

The growing influence of DSU in the cyber security realm was highlighted when the university attracted Jen Easterly, director of the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, as the keynote speaker at its DakotaCon event in March.

"The ideas generated at forums like this are just further proof that it doesn't matter the size of the university. It's really about the power of innovation and the focus on collaboration and the cutting edge of emerging technology that really makes this place something truly miraculous," Easterly said.

Job creation in Madison and beyond

After graduating from DSU with a master's degree in 2006, Jon Waldman and fellow graduate Chad Knutson started an information security company.

Over the past 20 years, SBS CyberSecurity, headquartered in Madison has grown to include 90 employees with clients in 49 states that include the nation's largest turkey farm and the Graceland Mansion tourist attraction.

"DSU might be smaller in size, but what they do for their students is so powerful," Waldman said. "They've been on the forefront of what the cyber industry really needs for the last 25 years or more."

This story was produced by South Dakota News Watch, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization. Read more in-depth stories at sdnewswatch.org and sign up for an email every few days to get stories as soon as they're published. Contact Bart Pfankuch at bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org.