Why would an Academy Award-nominated hair and makeup artist enroll in Merrimack College’s computer science master’s program?
Meredith Ivy M’25 says she’s looking to leave the industry on top.
“A Different Man,” the 2024 film which Ivy did hairstyling for, has been nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling at this year’s Academy Awards. The nomination came at a very interesting time in Ivy’s professional life, as she’s spent the better part of a year preparing for a career change.
“It’s very surreal,” she said of the nomination. “It hasn’t really hit yet. All I know now is that it’s going to be on my resume from now on…doesn’t matter what the job is for!”
Ivy grew up all around the South, eventually earning a bachelor’s degree in media and visual art from Empire State College. She later earned her cosmetology and barber license and started doing hair and makeup for student films around the Nashville area. Eventually, Ivy gained enough experience to start working on bigger projects in New York. She also picked up a job teaching hair and makeup at Make-Up Designory, a make-up and beauty school in New York City.
Now, from New York, she’s working to complete Merrimack’s online algorithms course and she plans to enroll in a data governance course next.
“When I found Merrimack’s program, I was stunned,” she said. “It was an online program that was accredited and affordable. Coming from working in career schools and trade schools, though, accredited can mean many, many things. I researched Merrimack, found out how long it had been around and its reputation – it put me at ease.”
When she isn’t studying, Ivy is advocating for remote students as the Graduate Student Senate’s first-ever vice president for online students.
“I know how isolating it can be (as an online student),” she explained. “One of the things I hope to do is make a Discord server (chatroom and video conference application) that’s for online students. It’ll encompass each program in the online graduate offerings, so all those students in a particular class can connect with each other and ask each other questions.”
Ivy said she always had a mind for math and science, and she’s happy that she’s finally able to pursue that passion.
“When I’m finished at Merrimack, I’d like to take my software engineering knowledge and pair it with hardware engineering knowledge,” she said.
While she’s planning to step back from the entertainment industry for now, Ivy believes her education at Merrimack will be an asset if she chooses to return.
“I studied cinematography in my undergrad, and with cinematography, you have something called a gaffer,” she explained. “That person is essentially an electrician who makes sure any lights the cinematographer wants to turn on won’t blow up. I’ve actually been a gaffer on a couple of films and I’m really interested in the electrical side of it.”
