Benveniste, a native of Culver City, Calif., knows how transformative a UC education can be. He and his brother were the first in their family to attend college.
He discovered his passion for mathematics when a UCI professor, Robert W. West, introduced him to the rigor and elegance of mathematical thinking. Benveniste still remembers how West artfully used pictures to bring his class in real analysis to life. “It was far and away the best class I’ve ever taken,” Benveniste says. “It inspired me to pursue my studies in math.”
Encouraged by West to enter the doctoral program at UC Berkeley, Benveniste became interested in how mathematics and economics overlapped. His adviser there, Professor David Gale, helped him explore this new fascination. Thanks to Gale, Benveniste learned that his passion encompassed economics and finance, as well as mathematics. By the time he graduated, Benveniste felt confident that he would succeed at whatever he chose to do.