W&L’s Patrick Solcher Awarded Fulbright to Spain For Solcher, teaching English in Spain is an opportunity to meaningfully immerse himself in a new culture and continue building his language skills.

By Emily Innes Stanley
April 16, 2026

Washington and Lee University senior Patrick Solcher ’26 has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) to teach English in Spain. At W&L, Solcher is an economics major with minors in data science and poverty and human capability studies. Solcher is a native of Houston, Texas, and graduated from The Kinkaid School.

The ETA program in Spain allows participants to assist teaching staff at the early childhood, elementary, middle school, high school, vocational or university levels. Responsibilities include teaching various subjects in the English language, directing conversation groups and leading school programs. Assistants are also encouraged to engage with their host community.

Solcher’s time at W&L has been largely defined by his involvement with English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), where he has served as the organization’s translations chair, co-president overseeing English teaching and tutoring, and co-president overseeing translations and interpretations. He is eager to continue his English teaching for another year with the ETA and looks forward to building his language skills in an immersive environment overseas.

“The Fulbright will allow me to not only further develop my own ability to speak Spanish, but to meaningfully integrate into a community and culture that I have long studied in school,” Solcher said.

Solcher is also grateful for the opportunity to travel again, especially after studying at the University of Oxford during Fall Term 2024. Studying at Oxford was an impactful experience for Solcher; he explored both his interest in healthcare economics (which later culminated in his economics thesis on employer health insurance) and the genre of magical realism in Spanish literature, reading and engaging with works in the Spanish language. Solcher also spent Spring Term 2024 in Cuba with Jamie Casey, professor of economics, which highlighted the value immersing yourself in a culture different from your own.

“Professor Casey has been a mentor and valuable guide in exploring not only the field of economics, but how to integrate that field with what we owe to those around us — a combination of my work in economics, data science and poverty studies,” Solcher said.

At W&L, Solcher is a Bonner Scholar and works with several community-focused organizations, including ESOL and the Community Table. He is also a member of Washington and Lee Student Consulting and the Contact Committee, and served as a state chair for the 2024 Mock Convention.

With the Fulbright, Solcher will depart in September 2026 for his nine-month program. Upon completion of the program, Solcher will join McKinsey and Company in Houston as a business analyst.

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Washington and Lee University is proud to be included on the list of U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most 2025-2026 Fulbright U.S. Students for the eighth consecutive year.

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. For more information, visit https://fulbrightprogram.org/. W&L students interested in applying for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program should contact Matthew Loar in the Houston H. Harte Center for Teaching and Learning (Leyburn 114) or by email at mloar@wlu.edu.

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