The Marshall University Foundation has announced a gift of $25,000 from Srijita DasGupta Bishop Esq. to establish the Srijita DasGupta Bishop Scholarship in support of the Society of Yeager Scholars. This gift directly underwrites the cost of attendance, including room and board, for the first two semesters at Marshall University, for one Yeager Scholar. It also covers a study abroad program at the University of Oxford including tuition and room and board for one Yeager Scholar.
Established at Marshall in 1987, the Society of Yeager Scholars is a merit-based full-ride scholarship and leadership program named for Gen. Chuck Yeager. The program is housed within the university’s Honors College. DasGupta Bishop graduated summa cum laude from Marshall in 2006 as a Yeager Scholar.
“Some of my most cherished memories are from my time at Marshall. In August 2025, I called Cara to ask if I could structure a major gift and scholarship to benefit the Yeager Scholars program because I wanted to give back in a meaningful way to the program that has helped lay the foundation for so many of the blessings I enjoy today,” DasGupta Bishop said. “My parents taught me from a young age to help others.”
DasGupta Bishop said she was influenced by donors who supported scholars while she was an undergraduate at Marshall, specifically Joe and Pam Gillette and their Joseph M. Gillette Yeager Scholars Endowment Fund, which has supported other Yeager Scholars.
“Because kind people invested in me years ago, I have the privilege of paying it forward to another student and paying back my alma mater,” DasGupta Bishop said. “I was lucky enough to meet the wonderfully kind and generous Joe Gillette when I attended Marshall. I had the chance to hear Joe’s personal story of his humble beginnings one on one. His story always stayed with me. Joe and his wife Pam graciously hosted my family and me for lunch in Atlanta back when I was a college student. Seeing his success gave me the courage to dream of someday being successful myself, despite my own humble beginning. I drew inspiration for my scholarship from the gift Joe and Pam made in 2006 to establish a named scholarship in the Yeager program.”
Of her $25,000 commitment to the Society of Yeager Scholars, DasGupta Bishop contributed $20,000 in March, representing the largest single cash gift received by the program from any donor thus far in 2026. She also becomes the first Yeager Scholar alum from the past 20 years of graduating classes to make a major gift, as well as the single largest commitment from a Yeager Scholar alum who graduated in that time.
Cara Bailey, the director for the Society of Yeager Scholars, expressed her gratitude for DasGupta Bishop’s commitment to current scholars.
“Srijita’s gift is extraordinary due to its generosity and the moment this represents for our recent alumni. Srijita’s gift reflects the profound impact this program can have on a student’s life and the enduring connection our scholars feel to the opportunities they received at Marshall. Srijita has distinguished herself professionally, but she is also leading through philanthropy. Srijita is creating opportunities that will extend far beyond a single student and setting a powerful example for future generations of Yeager Scholars,” Bailey said.
DasGupta Bishop earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law. She is an estate planning attorney and the founder of her own law firm, Brentwood Counsel PLLC, based in Brentwood, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. The Tennessee Supreme Court recognized her as a 2025 Attorney for Justice for providing one hundred pro bono hours of legal services.
Before returning to the practice of law, DasGupta Bishop worked in finance, for several Fortune 500 companies including Citigroup and Wells Fargo, two of the largest “Big 4 banks” in the nation.
DasGupta Bishop spent 15 years collectively working in community development finance. She was an executive director and senior lead CRE Relationship manager in the Community Lending and Investments division of Wells Fargo, a leading direct equity investor in Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). Additionally, she spent over five years working out of the Brentwood, Tennessee office of Citi Community Capital / Greenwich Street Capital, underwriting loans for the nation’s top affordable housing lender, Citigroup. Throughout her finance career, she has helped finance over $1 billion in aggregate investments and loans for the creation and renovation of multifamily affordable housing.
DasGupta Bishop was raised in Nashville, Tennessee and was born in Kolkata, India. She is an alumna of Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High School. DasGupta Bishop currently lives in Brentwood, Tennessee. She is married and has a daughter and stepson. She is active in her community, by leading MOMCODE Brentwood Circle as president, and by providing free educational seminars about estate planning in partnership with the John P. Holt Brentwood Library.
Beyond her professional career, DasGupta Bishop is actively involved in community service and philanthropic initiatives supporting children, families and underserved communities.
To learn more about the Society of Yeager Scholars, visit https://www.marshall.edu/yeager/.