West Point Class of 2027 Cadets Named Goldwater Scholars

WEST POINT, N.Y. November 10, 2026 – Cadets B. Spencer Lynch and Mary Claire Schleck, Class of 2027, have been announced earlier this year as Goldwater Scholars by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. West Point has earned 20 Goldwater Scholarships since competing in 2018.  

"We are proud of Cadets Lynch and Schleck,” said Dean of the Academic Board Brig. Gen. Nick Gist. “Their success demonstrates the tenacity and intellectual agility they will carry into the Army as officers."

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship Program, one of the oldest and most prestigious national scholarships in the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics in the United States, seeks to identify and support college sophomores and juniors who show exceptional promise of becoming this nation’s next generation of research leaders in these fields.

About the Goldwater Scholars

Cadet B. Spencer Lynch applies systems engineering and computational methods to strengthen decision-making in high-consequence environments. A systems engineering major with a Regional Studies minor from Fort Collins, Colo., Lynch conducts research under the mentorship of Dr. Vikram Mittal. His work develops natural language processing methods for open-source intelligence, applying these tools to the Russia-Ukraine conflict to extract operational insight from unstructured data. He has published this work at the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress, the Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering & Technology Symposium, and the American Society for Engineering Management International Conference. He cultivated this expertise as a summer research fellow at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. At West Point, Lynch serves as the Brigade Operations Officer, president of the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society, and Cadet in Charge of the American Society for Engineering Management. He mentors peers in precise and consequential communication as a senior consultant at the Mounger Writing Center and leads the American Society for Engineering Management as Cadet in Charge. He hopes to be commissioned as an infantry officer and later serve as a strategic intelligence officer.

“I am honored to represent the U. S. Military Academy as a 2026 Goldwater Scholar, and I am grateful to Dr. Vikram Mittal and Dr. Georgette Mitchell, whose mentorship has shaped both my research and my understanding of its purpose. I am eager to use this opportunity to deepen work that I hope will ultimately better support soldiers and the decisions they face.”

Cadet Mary Claire Schleck is a biology major from Metuchen, N.J. She conducts research focused on neurodegenerative disease, with a particular interest in the molecular mechanisms of protein misfolding that may contribute to neuronal damage. Under the mentorship of Dr. Ryan Limbocker and Lt. Col. Lucas Fallot, Schleck investigates questions at the intersection of neuroscience, medicine, and military health, driven by a desire to better understand how scientific discovery can improve long-term outcomes for patients affected by neurological disease and injury. Her research experiences, including an internship at the University of Florence made possible by the Stamps Scholarship, have strengthened her passion for translational medicine and inspired her pursuit of a career as a physician-scientist. She now serves as the Brigade Academic Officer for the Corps. Following graduation from West Point, Cadet Schleck will go on to attend medical school in pursuit of becoming an Army doctor and hopes to advance treatment for neurodegenerative conditions and traumatic brain injury.

"I am so honored to have been named a 2026 Goldwater Scholar. Research has given true purpose to my education and shown me how curiosity, mentorship, and persistence can drive meaningful scientific discovery. I’m deeply grateful to my mentors, research partners, and family who have supported me throughout this journey. The Goldwater Scholarship will allow me to continue pursuing questions that connect fundamental science and medicine to improve outcomes for patients and service members alike.”

About West Point 

The U. S. Military Academy at West Point is a four-year, co-educational, federal service academy located 50 miles north of New York City. It was founded in 1802 as America's first college of engineering and continues today as the world’s premier leader-development institution, consistently ranked among top colleges in the country. Its mission is to build, educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets to be commissioned leaders of character committed to the Army Values and ready for a lifetime of service to the Army and Nation. For more information, go to www.westpoint.edu.