Alumni Selected as Olmsted Scholars: “The Greatest Leaders Must Be Educated Broadly”

On March 12, the Olmsted Foundation board of directors selected two VMI alumni—U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin Field ’15 and U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Mike Jacobs ’16—as members of the Olmsted Scholar Class of 2026. Established in 1960 by the George and Carol Olmsted Foundation, the program is exceptionally selective, choosing only 16-18 officers from the U.S. Armed Forces for each class.

Retired U.S. Army Col. Mark Elfendahl, Olmsted Foundation executive vice president and himself a 1999 Olmsted Scholar, said the program “affords each officer the opportunity to become fluent in a foreign language, receive a fully funded master’s degree at a foreign university, and gain invaluable perspectives that will shape him into a more effective senior leader.”

Originally from Round Hill, Virginia, Field majored in economics and business at VMI. A submarine officer, he has served on attack and ballistic missile boats—he is now the engineering officer of the USS Wyoming (SSBN-742)—and in other assignments, such as a NROTC instructor at Texas A&M University. Jacobs is from Lexington, Virginia. After graduation from VMI, he attended The Basic School and was selected to be an infantry officer. He has led Marines at the platoon level, held staff assignments, and now commands Golf Company, 2d Battalion, 6th Marines.

Field has been assigned to learn Russian, and he will study in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Jacobs will pursue graduate studies in Bratislava, Slovakia, and therefore, will be trained in Slovak.

The program grew out of the experiences of the foundation’s creator, Maj. Gen. George H. Olmsted. A 1922 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, Olmsted left the service in late 1923 to join an insurance agency in his native Iowa and founded his own company in 1924. By 1940, it was a national leader in the industry.

During World War II, Olmsted’s horizons expanded significantly when he was recalled to active duty and headed the office responsible for supplying Allied nations with American materiel under the Lend-Lease Program. In this role, he worked with representatives of many nations, including the United Kingdom, France, China, and the Soviet Union. In 1944, he joined the staff of Lt. Gen. Albert C. Wedemeyer, commander of U.S. forces in China and the chief of staff to Chinese leader Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.

After the war, he returned to his company until the 1950 outbreak of the Korean War. Now a brigadier general, Olmsted took charge of the Army’s military assistance operations. In 1951, he was assigned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, promoted to major general, and took charge of all U.S. government military assistance programs.

After the Korean War, he returned to business and, by the late 1950s, led a Washington, D.C.-based conglomerate, International Bank, that had global interests in insurance, banking, shipping, and manufacturing.

Olmsted’s military and business experiences demonstrated to him the strategic advantages that can be gained through cultural knowledge. According to Elfendahl, it was Olmsted’s enduring conviction that “the greatest leaders must be educated broadly,” which inspired him to create the Olmsted Scholars Program.

Appropriately, the experience of Olmsted Scholars is extraordinary. After selection, most attend the Defense Language Institute, where they are trained in the language necessary to live and study in their assigned country. They then spend 2 years earning a graduate degree in that country.

While scholars continue to receive their regular military pay and allowances, they do not receive other official financial support. Mindful of this, the Olmsted Foundation provides two annual grants to each scholar, with the amount depending on the size of his or her family. The foundation also pays tuition for graduate study and reimburses other expenses. The total financial support to each scholar averages about $34,000 over 3 years.

The Olmsted Foundation does place some requirements on the scholars. They must handle all the other details, such as applying to graduate schools, related to their time overseas. As Elfendahl puts it, “They live ‘on the economy,’ meaning all the details of daily life are on them to figure out. They must find housing; figure out where to shop; how to get around; if necessary, where to send their children to school; and how to work within the local healthcare system. That’s part of the program’s value. It gives scholars a new set of experiences, boosts their self-confidence, and enhances their leadership abilities.”

These requirements fulfill Olmsted’s vision of a broad education because being among another people is a superb way to become thoroughly educated about them. They also mean the scholars take on something of an ambassadorial role. “The scholars can—and we expect will—educate the host countries’ citizens about the United States and its citizens,” said Elfendahl. “We stress that they might be the only Americans these people have ever met—or will ever meet.”

With such benefits on offer, it is no surprise that many officers want to be Olmsted Scholars. Some candidates apply because they have been encouraged by other officers who have been scholars. Jacobs says he has met several former scholars, including his current battalion commander, who extolled the program’s many virtues. Others have heard about it by word of mouth. Many have been interested in it for several years. Elfendahl recalls he learned about it as a cadet at West Point in the late 1980s.

Field decided to apply when he “recognized the personal and professional value of a broad education and the promise of the adventure that comes with learning a new language and total immersion in a foreign country. It felt like this program was tailor-made to meet all my goals. The moment I recognized the Olmsted Scholar program was career-feasible was the moment I began feverishly working on my application.”

Jacobs put in his application “because I want my next life experience to be one that changes my perspective of the world so that I better develop as a leader. There is more to the world than what I could experience within the traditional Marine career pipeline, so I sought an experience that would broaden me.”

While each service has its own way of determining which candidates are best fitted for the program, all applicants face the same requirements. First, they must be active-duty officers who have served between 3 and 11 years. The foundation prefers officers who have completed a command tour, such as leading a Marine rifle company or an Army tank company. That demonstrates to the foundation they are serious about pursuing a military career and aspire to be senior leaders.

After each of the six services chooses its candidates, it sends scholarship packets to the Olmsted Foundation. Usually, there are approximately 70 a year. After reviewing the applications, the foundation’s staff interviews applicants. “We are looking for top performers who are aiming for senior leadership,” Elfendhal explained. The foundation’s board then chooses the members of a new class, which usually consists of about 16 officers.

The number of selectees per service reflects the relative size of the services. The Army, Air Force, and Navy usually have four scholars each per year, while the Marines usually have two (although this year it was three), and the Coast Guard and Space Force have one each. All told, the process takes approximately 9 months.

During the interview process, the foundation asks the scholars to provide a list of 10 preferred locations, all of which must be feasible in a diplomatic sense and have suitable graduate education opportunities. The foundation’s board then assigns scholars to locations of strategic value where their presence and expertise are likely to enhance American leadership and advance American interests in the world.

Scholars must apply to graduate schools themselves, but they are not entirely on their own. The Olmsted Foundation maintains relationships with universities in dozens of countries, and it is to these approved schools that the scholars apply.

There is one more restriction: No matter what their undergraduate major, scholars must study within the liberal arts. Elfendahl explained, “General Olmsted’s thinking was that ‘numbers are numbers,’ but where you really learn about another country, its history, and its culture is in the liberal arts.”

Asked about this requirement, Jacobs joked, “I have a degree in mechanical engineering, and soon I’ll pursue a master’s degree related to the humanities or international relations. I expect to be humbled by the experience.” That said, he is looking forward to his time in Slovakia. “Even though I have deployed several times as a Marine and traveled to Bolivia under the Engineers without Borders program as a cadet, I was first able to explore a foreign culture when I was stationed on Okinawa. There, I realized that to truly learn about a foreign culture, you must immerse yourself in it.”

“I am excited for an experience away from the ‘American bubble’ that exists around U.S. bases overseas. Okinawa offered a different culture, but it wasn’t hard to find the niceties that exist in America. I don’t think I will have the problem of the ‘American bubble’ in Slovakia.”

“I couldn’t have been happier to be selected for the Olmsted Scholar Program and given my top choices of country and language, Kazakhstan and Russian, respectively,” said Field. “I eagerly anticipate being surrounded by a culture, language, and people … so different from our own. I don’t know anyone in Almaty or anywhere else in Kazakhstan. I am most looking forward, therefore, to the thrill of the ‘fresh start,’ the excitement of the unknown, and the limitless possibilities for how to spend my time.”

Asked what benefits he expects to derive from this experience, Field replied, “With respect to self-development, I’m looking to build a deepened sense of confidence to overcome challenges, better my ‘intuitive’ decision-making capabilities, and improve my ability to connect with others, especially those [who] think differently.”

“I am excited to learn about Kazakhstan’s fascinating history, from its ancient nomadic warrior culture through its time as a Soviet republic to its present status as a leading Central Asian country. As an outdoorsman, I am looking forward to the natural wonderland that is Kazakhstan. Most importantly, I can’t wait to form what I am sure will be the lifelong relationships … with others during this 3-year experience.”

“The Olmsted Scholarship is first and foremost a leadership program,” said Jacobs in response to the same question. “Every previous scholar I have spoken to has said that the Olmsted experience is a life-changing experience. So, I am grateful for this amazing opportunity.”

As to how they’ll apply the lessons they’ll learn from being Olmsted Scholars, Jacobs said, “The scholars I’ve met have told me that they apply their Olmsted experience to every challenge that they have faced as a commander. I am hoping to be able to take the patience that I will gain from immersing myself in a different world and apply it to how I work with and lead Marines in the future.”

“The Olmsted Scholar Program is a ‘one-of-a-kind’ experience that presents command-aspiring officers with an all-encompassing self-development opportunity of a lifetime,” said Field. “I hope to take advantage of the lessons I learn throughout this experience and bring them back to my warfare community as I press toward my near-term goal of submarine command.”

Col. Jeff Kendrick, Ph.D., VMI’s director of global education, said, “We are proud these two alumni have been selected for this prestigious program. Going on to serve as generals, admirals, ambassadors, and policymakers, Olmsted Scholars have shaped U.S. defense and foreign policy at the highest levels.”

He continued, “The Olmsted Foundation Scholars Program is a natural extension of the foundation in leadership and the citizen-soldier ethos that the VMI education instills in its graduates. The program provides accomplished alumni the opportunity to apply their VMI-honed leadership skills in a global setting.

“We also are thankful that, for several years, the Olmsted Foundation has included the Institute in its program that funds overseas travel and cultural immersion opportunities for undergraduates. As the Olmsted Foundation states, this program ‘offers many future military officers their first overseas travel experience.’ Recently, VMI has used these funds to provide spring furlough trips to non-English speaking countries such as Japan, Vietnam, and most recently, Greece.”

Jacobs had a final observation and request. “I didn’t know about the program while at VMI. I became aware of it because I crossed paths with Olmsted Scholars who were kind enough to explain it to me.

“Everything there is to know about the Olmsted Foundation and the scholars’ experiences can be found at olmstedfoundation.org. Anyone with an email address can create an account and read the reports from scholars. If any VMI cadets who plan to commission or younger alumni currently serving are interested in the program, please feel free to use the website and connect with Ben and me.”