Intro. Due to his promising academic performance, Wesker was recruited by the Spencer Foundation and subsequently hired by Umbrella Pharmaceuticals in 1977. As part of an initiative to indoctrinate him and other child prodigies, he was enrolled in the company-run Umbrella Executive Training Center—a boarding school with a curriculum designed to instill the aggressive, inhumane values necessary to further Umbrella's viral weapons research.[11] The 1978 class was deemed underwhelming by the Deputy Director, with only Wesker and the sixteen-year-old Dr. William Birkin standing out for their exceptional talent and ruthless demeanor, qualities deemed ideal for the company. Dr. James Marcus, a co-founder of Umbrella Pharmaceuticals and the facility's director, took a keen interest in Wesker and Birkin, eventually earning their trust.[12] After a series of suppressed corporate scandals, the training school was shut down at the year's end.