Meet Ellen Israel '79

Where do you live?

New York City

What do you do for work currently?

I am a commercial real estate broker in NYC

What did you learn at IC that helped you get to where you are today (personally or professionally)?

I learned a lot at IC that helped me get where I am today. I was a TA for Marty Brownstein, Politics. Most if not all the TA’s were men. I learned how to hold my own as the only woman in the room, as it is in the commercial real estate world today. I was also a student justice for IC, which helped me learned to negotiate to reach a result where there were many opinions. My Ithaca College roomies are still my best friends. I would not be where I am today without their love and support.

How did you get involved with IC after graduating (did you volunteer? Did you speak in a classroom? Attend events?)?

After graduation, I missed being at IC. I participated in many New York City alumni events. I spoke at various classes at school, mostly at Marty Brownsteins politics classes. I still go to NYC alumni events.

Why do you LOVE IC?

I love ic because I had the most wonderful four years there. I grew as a person, made lifelong friends, and still use information that I learned at school in my day to day business. It was a wonderful time to be a student at IC….

Anything else interesting/pertinent that you’d like to include: (Are you close with other alumni? A professor you loved? Student orgs you were involved with?)

As I said before, I have a group called the Ithaca Girls. There are 7 of us, who speak and get together often. Our memories are not as good as they used to be, but we still remember the good old days at IC. We laugh about events that occurred then, over 40 years ago… We laugh like it was yesterday. Even today, during this corona virus time, it is the IC girls who are keeping all of our spirits up.

<<BACK