Endowment establishes fellowship program
Becker gift to benefit doctoral students
Doctoral students studying economics at West Virginia University will have the opportunity to be part of a fellowship program established through a gift made by two WVU alumni.
The W. Marston (Marty) and Katharine B. Becker Doctoral Fellows Endowment will provide a $20,000 annual stipend for a student to work on research relevant to West Virginia economic policy while pursuing their doctoral studies.
"Kathy and I feel the continuation and regular communication of the important research being done by WVU professors and associates on identifying how to make West Virginia’s lagging economy competitive can hopefully build a basis of consensus for meaningful change in our state by political and other key leaders," said Marty Becker. "We hope the recipients of this fellowship will add to that effort and allow future WVU graduates a greater opportunity to work in West Virginia."
Students will be selected for the fellowship based on their ability to communicate basic economic principles through research on state policy. Fellows will be expected to engage in dialog on state economic policy through newspaper publications and/or speeches.
"The W. Marston and Katharine B. Becker Doctoral Fellowship not only provides critical support for the doctoral program in economics, it also serves the state with practical input on public policy issues through the media as well as public speaking engagements," said William Trumbull, interim dean of WVU’s College of Business and Economics.
WVU has some of the nation’s premier faculty members in the field of free market thought, he added, and students will be selected for the fellowship by those conducting this research and teaching about its principles.
Marty Becker currently serves as chairman and CEO of Max Capital Group Ltd., a global company that provides a wide range of specialty insurance and reinsurance products for corporations, public entities, property and casualty insurers and life and health insurers.
He is also chairman and general partner of West Virginia Media Holdings, LLC, which owns The State Journal and several television stations across the state.
Becker graduated from WVU in 1974 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and earned his law degree from WVU in 1977. He is a member of WVU’s Academy of Distinguished Alumni and a former member of the WVU Foundation board of directors.
Kathy Becker graduated from WVU in 1979 also with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a minor in political science.
The donation was made through the WVU Foundation, a private non-profit corporation that generates and provides support for West Virginia University.
