Rhodes Scholars Selected

Media Release
5 December 2003

Rhodes Scholars Selected

The three latest Rhodes Scholars from New Zealand were selected last night following a series of interviews involving 13 candidates at Government House in Wellington.

University of Otago graduate Glenn Goldsmith, University of Auckland graduate Jonathan Good and Willow Sainsbury, currently completing undergraduate studies at Princeton University in the United States, were successful. They join an illustrious list of successful New Zealanders who have won Rhodes Scholarships, widely regarded as the most prestigious award of its type in the country.

Rhodes Scholarships are tenable at Oxford University and administered by the NZ Vice-Chancellors’ Committee, two members of which – Dr John Hood and Professor Bryan Gould – are former scholarship holders.

Glenn Goldsmith grew up in South Auckland and was accepted for an AFS exchange to Denmark in his seventh form year at Rosehill College, an experience which has left him fluent in Danish. His sporting interests include Taekwon-do and as a Black Belt holder he has won many national and regional competitions, coached the South Island team and served as an instructor for the Otago University Taekwon-do Club. This year Glenn was Vice-President (Education & Welfare) for the Otago University Students’ Association. He had an A- average over both the BA (philosophy, politics and economics) and Bachelor of Laws with Honours degrees he has completed at Otago. Glenn’s work experience to date includes a stint with the Crown Law Office’s Human Rights Group during the summer vacation. At Oxford he intends taking a MPhil in economics.

Jonathan Good, a former Dux of Mount Albert Grammar School, is currently a business analyst for McKinsey & Company. His interests include debating and his many achievements in the field include representing the University of Auckland at the World Universities Debating Championship. Jonathan plays club cricket and his other sporting interests have included soccer and more recently hockey. He has been actively involved in the Young Enterprise Scheme and his academic achievements include many scholarships and awards for physics and economics. He maintained an A+ record at the University of Auckland , gaining a conjoint BA (economics)/BSc (mathematics and physics) and a BA with First Class Honours in economics. Jonathan will undertake a MPhil in economics at Oxford and he says his over-arching goal is to become a economic/business leader in this country.

Willow Sainsbury attended St Cuthbert’s College in Auckland and has strong interests in the arts and archaeology fields. She has worked at Webbs Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers, acted as a research advisor on collections of Maori artifacts held in the United Kingdom and has been co-president and president respectively of Art Guides and the Stella Art Club at Princeton. Willow’s sporting interests include athletics (a member of the Princeton Track Team), skiing and the Princeton snowboarding team. She is proficient in Spanish having lived with a host family in Bilbao during the summer of 2001. Willow will graduate from Princeton next year with a BA in art and archaeology and a certificate in visual art. Her academic record includes many As at one of the world’s top universities. At Oxford, Willow will undertake a MPhil in material anthropology and museum ethnography.

The selection committee for the Rhodes Scholars elect for 2004 comprised the Governor General Dame Silvia Cartwright, Dr John Hood, Dr Carolyn Burns, Professor Jane Harding, Mr Jonathan Ross and Ms Jane Huria. Mr Hugh Fletcher attended in place of Reserve Bank Governor Dr Alan Bollard.

ENDS

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