Zimbabwe's 2018 Rhodes Scholar selected

As the Zimbabwe Rhodes Selection Committee, we have just finished two days of interviewing nine outstanding Zimbabwean finalists for the Rhodes Scholarship. These shortlisted candidates came from Universities in Zimbabwe, SA, USA, and the UK. The Rhodes Scholarship is an extremely competitive award, with tough and exacting requirements which include; academic excellence, leadership, community service, character, drive and passion This year, in Zimbabwe, there was only one successful candidate. The committee can select a maximum of two Rhodes Scholars a year. The successful candidate was Terrens Muradzikwa.

At Marist in Nyanga Terrens had the top O Level and A Level results in the whole country, and is currently finishing an undergraduate degree in Economics at Harvard. His current research interests are focused on the impact of natural resources on employment and fertility rates in Africa. Terrens has worked as a research assistant for Professor Clayton Christensen at the Harvard Business School, and has studied how disruptive innovation can be used to spur economic growth in developing countries.

He is very passionate about giving a voice to young people and about delivering universal education to children in Africa. As a result, he has been working on two fast-growing digital startups: The African Exponent and Shasha Network. The Rhodes Scholarship will take him to Oxford University in September 2018 where he will pursue an MSc in Economics for Development and a Master of Public Policy (MPP), with hopes of contributing to the economic and political turn-around of his native country, Zimbabwe.

The Rhodes Scholarships are postgraduate awards supporting outstanding all-round students at the University of Oxford, and providing transformative opportunities for exceptional individuals. Established in 1903 under the will of Cecil Rhodes, the Rhodes is the oldest and perhaps the most prestigious international graduate scholarship program in the world. A class of 95 Scholars is selected each year from: Australia, Bermuda, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica & the Commonwealth Caribbean, Kenya, the Middle East (Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine), New Zealand, Pakistan, Southern Africa (including South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia and Swaziland), United States, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Each year Zimbabwean Rhodes Scholars are selected on the basis of their intellect, character, leadership and commitment to service to join other Rhodes Scholars from around the world at the University of Oxford. Study at the University of Oxford will give the chosen scholars access to world class academics in their field as well as an international alumni network that includes Heads of State, Pulitzer Prize winning authors, Nobel Prize winners and Olympians.

Let us encourage more talented Zimbabweans (under 25 yrs) to apply. Applicants must have (or about to finish) an undergraduate degree, from any university in the world. Annually, the Zimbabwe Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee can choose a maximum of two Rhodes Scholars. Globally a total of 95 Rhodes Scholars are selected each year.