Two Rhodes scholars for the University of Auckland
Mon Dec 21 2015 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Two Rhodes scholars for the University of Auckland
21 December 2015
Former Governor-General The Rt Hon Sir Anand Satyanand with the Rhodes Scholars: Kimberley Savill, Jade Leung, and Oscar Lyons.
Rhodes scholarships have been awarded to two young University of Auckland graduates to carry out post graduate study at the prestigious University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
Jade Leung and Oscar Lyons join Kimberley Savill from Victoria University as the Rhodes scholars elect for 2016.
Jade, aged 22, was the 2011 Dux of St Cuthbert’s College and received the Prime Minister’s Award for Academic Excellence. She has completed a Bachelor of Engineering with First Class Honours in environmental engineering, in just three years at the University of Auckland.
She will use her scholarship to pursue a Doctorate (DPhil) with the School of Geography and the Environment to study the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus, which she describes as “non-negotiable necessities for human development”. She will look at how policy decisions could be better designed to take into account the interdependencies between human development, the economy and our environment.
Jade is also active in social enterprise initiatives to achieve change. She was the Learning and Change Manager at Engineers Without Borders NZ; CEO of the P3 Foundation against poverty; and is the CEO of the Learning Collaborative to equip secondary students with the skills to succeed academically. She is a founding trustee for NCEA campus – a not-for-profit organisation that encourages able university students to provide tutoring to secondary school students, especially those in low-decile communities, to help them reach their full academic potential.
Oscar, aged 25, attended Rosmini College at Takapuna, in Auckland where he was Senior Dux. He also achieved the top placing in New Zealand in the ICAS (International Competitions and Assessment for Schools) for Science and won a University of Auckland Scholarship.
He finished his medical training (MBChB) at the University of Auckland last year before working as a Doctor at Gisborne Hospital. He has just become the Medical Education Fellow in Surgery at the South Auckland Clinical School of the University of Auckland. He will be closely involved in the teaching, assessment and pastoral care for medical students at Middlemore Hospital.
Oscar plans to complete a Masters of Science in Higher Education at Oxford, and then progress to a doctorate in medical education. His goal is to evaluate, design and implement changes to improve mental health and medical education in medical students and those they serve.
He has a lifelong passion for teaching and tutored younger students at secondary school and continued as a Teaching Assistant and Lead Instructor at university. He was also voted Peer Leader at Medical School.
He is active in supporting Auckland Rotary District’s Young Leadership Award annual camp designed to improve leadership potential. His other interests include judo and musical performance.
Kimberley Savill, aged 22, was Dux at Nelson’s Nayland College and awarded the NZQA Outstanding Scholar award in 2011.
The three Rhodes scholars were selected at a meeting chaired by former Governor-General The Rt Hon Sir Anand Satyanand at Government House in Wellington, who said: “The Rhodes Scholarship will be a transformative opportunity for these outstanding young people who all share a passion to contribute to the world.”
The Scholarship covers the students’ fees, accommodation and living costs for up to three years at Oxford, which is one of the oldest and top-ranked universities in the world.