W&L’s Jack Maloy ’24 Awarded Fulbright to Germany Maloy was selected for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to teach English in Germany.

By Emily Innes
May 8, 2024

Washington and Lee University senior Jack Maloy ’24 has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) to teach English in Germany. At W&L, Maloy is an earth and environmental geoscience major with a minor in German. Maloy is a native of Midlothian, Virginia, and graduated from Midlothian High School.

The ETA program in Germany aims to strengthen educational and cultural relationships between the United States and Germany, with English Teaching Assistants teaching English language and American culture at all levels of German schools and facilitating projects that help students learn how to be global citizens.

For Maloy, the ETA is the culmination of more than 10 years of learning German, including spending a year in Germany through the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) following his high school graduation.

“What began as my sixth-grade foreign language class has evolved into such an important aspect of my life,” Maloy said. “My exchange year in Germany was particularly impactful, and I left with a desire to share my experiences and encourage others to discover the value of intercultural exchange. The ETA will require me to lean on my experiences and passion for language, which I will use to inspire the next generation of world travelers.”

As a rising high school junior in the summer of 2017, Maloy attended the German Foreign Language Academy, an intensive three-week immersion program held each summer on W&L’s campus, and credits this experience for inspiring his desire to visit Germany and his decision to attend W&L. In 2022, Maloy served as a counselor at the German Foreign Language Academy, and being able to give back to a program that was so transformative for him was one of his most rewarding experiences as an undergraduate.

At W&L, Maloy is involved in the Outing Club, German Club, and club badminton team, and is the brotherhood chair for Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He also serves as the Class of 2024 Justice on the Student Judicial Council.

Maloy is grateful for the support he has received from his faculty mentors at W&L, including Lisa Greer, professor of earth and environmental geoscience, and Chris Connors, the William E. Pritchard III ’80 Professor of Earth and Environmental Geoscience, whose geology instruction has “pushed [him] to think creatively and nurtured [his] adventurous spirit;” and Jaime Roots, visiting assistant professor of German, who has continuously supported his German studies since he arrived on campus. In turn, Roots admires Maloy’s dedication and insight and feels fortunate to have had him in class during Maloy’s first semester and last semester at W&L.

“While I’m sad that Jack’s time here is at an end, I know he’s going to be a phenomenal teaching assistant while abroad in Germany,” Roots said. “He has so much knowledge, energy and compassion to share with his future students. They will be very lucky to learn from him, and he is so deserving of this opportunity!”

With the Fulbright award, Maloy will depart in September 2024 for his nine-month program. Upon completion of the program, Maloy hopes to pursue a career in geology consulting, particularly in the rapidly expanding field of carbon capture, utilization and storage.

The Fulbright Program was established more than 75 years ago to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Fulbright is the world’s largest and most diverse international educational exchange program. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Washington and Lee University is proud to be included on the list of U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most 2023-2024 Fulbright U.S. Students for the sixth consecutive year.

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