West Point Class of 2027 Cadets Named Rhodes Scholars – Nov. 15, 2026

WEST POINT, N.Y.– The U. S. Military Academy is proud to announce that Class of 2027 cadets Elizabeth Fetter and Ian Fox have been selected as Rhodes Scholars, furthering West Point’s long-standing tradition of academic excellence and service-focused leadership. 

"Elizabeth and Ian hold themselves to a demanding standard in the classroom, in the Corps, and in training, and they do it in service of the soldiers they will soon lead,” said U.S. Military Academy Dean of the Academic Board Brig. Gen. Nick Gist. “The Rhodes Scholarship recognizes that record. The Army is gaining two officers who have already shown they prepare for responsibility before it arrives, and I am grateful to the mentors who helped them reach this point as they take on new challenges at Oxford." 

This is the seventh consecutive year that West Point cadets have earned multiple Rhodes Scholarships. Since 1923, West Point has had 113 American Rhodes Scholars.  

Learn more about West Point’s Dawkins Scholars Program at https://www.westpoint.edu/academics/dawkins-scholars-program. 

About the Recipients: 

Cadet Elizabeth Fetter from Palo Alto, Calif., is an International History major at West Point with a research focus on modern China. She is a Truman Scholar Finalist and has published research on Mao Zedong’s rise to power in West Point’s history magazine, The Report. Elizabeth has held several important leadership roles in the Corps of Cadets. She currently serves as West Point's First Captain, leading the 4,400-member Corps of Cadets, and previously served as Commander of Cadet Field Training, overseeing the military training of more than 1,000 rising sophomores. Elizabeth competes on the West Point Triathlon Team, earning her professional license her sophomore year and helping the team win the national championship her junior year. Her military training includes the Army’s Jungle Operations Training Course in Hawaii and the German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge. Elizabeth hopes to commission as an Engineer officer and pursue a career focused on China, intelligence sharing, and diplomacy. 

“I am so honored for this opportunity. I truly would not be here if not for those who poured into me along the way, from officers to civilian mentors, to my coach, family, and friends.” 

Cadet Ian Fox from Shanksville, Pa., is an English major at West Point. Ian’s academic passions are technical communications and AI ethics, publishing two peer reviewed papers on the rhetoric of AI. Ian has interned at the Army’s Artificial Intelligence Integration Center and the U.S. Embassies in Greece and Croatia, studied at NATO School Oberammergau, and spent a semester abroad at the Royal Military College of Canada, where he played on their rugby team. He currently serves as the brigade honor secretary. In his free time, he is a senior consultant at West Point’s Mounger Writing Center, tutors peers and local middle schoolers with the Center for Enhanced Performance, and is an avid outdoorsman. Ian is also a Stamps Scholar, co-cadet in charge of the Sea to Shining Sea Fellowship, and a Peace and Dialogue Initiative Fellow. Following graduation, he intends to commission as a Military Intelligence officer. 

“I am beyond grateful to be selected as a Rhodes Scholar. I attribute every bit of my success to my parents, friends, and West Point’s faculty who continue to help me grow as an intellectual and a human.”

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.