CPT Louis A. Beto ’14 was recently selected by The George and Carol Olmsted Foundation as a member of the Olmsted Scholar Class of 2025. Over the next three years, Beto will complete language training and pursue graduate studies on a full scholarship in Istanbul, Türkiye. 

Since 1959, the Olmsted Scholar Program has challenged young military officers to learn a foreign language and pursue graduate studies in that language at a foreign university. This cultural immersion program, sponsored by a foundation established by MG George H. Olmsted, Class of 1922, provides one year of foreign language training followed by two years of study at a foreign graduate school. Olmsted Scholars have studied at over 200 universities in more than 60 countries and 40 languages.

Beto joins 148 other West Point graduates who have been selected as Olmsted Scholars since 1959, many of whom later rose to important positions of senior leadership in the Army. To date, West Point ranks second among all undergraduate institutions in the United States in the number of Olmsted Scholars selected. 

Notable West Point graduates who were Olmsted Scholars include Ambassador and GEN (R) John P. Abizaid ’73, former Commander, U.S. Central Command; and LTG (R) Patrick J. Donahue ’80, former Deputy Commander, U.S. Forces Command.