Emily Warren, a graduate student at Stanford University, was awarded the inaugural George P. and Charlotte Shultz Fellowship in Modern Israel Studies this week by Hillel at Stanford.

Warren, who earned her undergraduate degree in economics from Stanford, worked as a program officer for the Hewlett Foundation and studied in the U.K. as a Marshall Scholar. She has returned to Stanford to pursue a Ph.D. in economics and a law degree simultaneously. She received the initial grant at a May 23 ceremony.

Thomas Friedman and Emily Warren

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and his wife, Ann, a Stanford alumna, made a fellowship gift to Hillel at Stanford in honor of the 90th birthday of Shultz, the former U.S. secretary of state. Upon learning of the Friedmans’ gift, Shultz matched it.

“We are deeply grateful to the Friedmans and the Shultzes for their generosity, and for helping Hillel at Stanford to encourage student travel to Israel to advance scholarly pursuits,” said Rabbi Serena Eisenberg, executive director of Hillel at Stanford, who noted that the fellowship currently has $90,000 to its name. She said she hopes to raise an additional $10,000 so it can reach the level needed for endowment.

Warren plans to use her $5,000 grant to do research this summer in Israel. She will study whether Israel’s booming high-tech sector arose due to government cultivation of a homegrown defense industry in the 1970s and ’80s.

Other finalists included Alon Elhanan, who proposed studying censorship in Israel; and Maya Kornberg, who wanted to study the political views of young Israelis.

“Secretary Shultz is the individual who, more than any other, inspired me to pursue graduate studies at the intersection of international security and economics,” Warren said. “It is an honor to receive this fellowship commemorating his work.”

The fellowship was open to Stanford students interested in researching modern Israel issues. The winner was chosen by a panel that included former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Abraham Sofaer, a federal judge and legal adviser to the State Department in the Reagan administration.