Brooks M. Leftwich, Marshall County High School’s Class of 2015 Valedictorian, has been selected for a Fulbright Scholarship to Taiwan for the 2020-21 academic year.

He will spend the year as an English Teaching Assistant to supplement local English language instruction and to provide a native speaker presence in the classroom.

Leftwich will graduate summa cum laude this May from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville with a mechanical engineering degree with honors and a minor in reliability and maintainability engineering.

The Fulbright Program is devoted to increasing 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. Fulbright alumni have become heads of state, judges, ambassadors, cabinet ministers, CEOs, and university presidents, as well as leading journalists, artists, scientists, and teachers. They include 60 Nobel Laureates, 86 Pulitzer Prize winners, 74 MacArthur Fellows, and thousands of leaders across the private, public and non-profit sectors.

As a Fulbright participant and a representative of the United States, Leftwich will have the opportunity to work collaboratively with international partners and the local community in educational, political, cultural, economic, and scientific fields, while exemplifying the qualities of service, leadership, and excellence that have been hallmarks of the Program for nearly 75 years.

Leftwich has been involved in many leadership activities while at UTK, including serving as an Engineering Professional Practice Ambassador for the Tickle College of Engineering, Student Code of Conduct Review Committee Member, UT Student Ambassador, Ignite Team Leader, Delta Tau Delta officer, and as a mentor at several Knoxville area elementary schools.

For the academic year 2017-18, Leftwich worked at the Nissan Smyrna Vehicle Assembly Plant as a Process Engineer Co-Op student, collaborating on projects for the manufacturer’s Leaf vehicle. This past year he was a member of the Educational Leadership Undergraduate Research Team and presented the team’s “Montgomery 1960: Using Technology to Teach Empathy and Perspective Taking,” to the American Historical Association in January and the Association of Student Conduct Administrators in February.

Brooks is the son of Beth Stockwell of Pulaski and Mike Leftwich of Nashville.