Recalling how important his undergraduate research experience was when he was a student, Mark Israel 鈥�91 established the Mark A. Israel '91 Endowed Summer Research Fund in Economics.

鈥淥ne of the very best parts of my Wesleyan experience was the chance to get my first taste of real, topical economic research, working in close collaboration with multiple members of the economics faculty, including Mike Seeborg, Bob Leekley and Margaret Chapman,鈥� Israel said.

鈥淭hrough this gift, I鈥檓 giving one student per year a chance to realize a similar experience, which just seems like the right way to pay something back for all that those experiences did for me.鈥�

Following graduation, Israel began a business career at State Farm, earned a doctorate at Stanford and taught at Northwestern鈥檚 Kellogg School of Management before returning to the business world.

Today, he lives with his wife Melissa Best 鈥�94 and their children in Washington D.C., where he is Senior Managing Director for Compass Lexecon, one of the world鈥檚 leading economic consulting firms.