The Rhodes Trust is delighted to welcome the 2018 cohort of 96 Rhodes Scholars, who have arrived at Oxford this week. This year’s intake includes two Scholars from West Africa, a new constituency which has joined the Rhodes ever-expanding global community.

Emmanuelle Dankwa comes to Oxford from Ghana, where she was working as a Teaching Assistant at the Department of Statistics at the University of Ghana, her alma mater. Emmanuelle excelled during her studies in Mathematics and Statistics and developed a passion to revolutionise plastic waste management which led her to start CIYZOE, a student advocacy group mainly involved in plastic waste recycling education. She plans to pursue a research degree in Statistical Science at Oxford and is committed to positively influencing public data management systems in Ghana.

Toluwalase Awoyemi arrives at Oxford from Nigeria, where he graduated from the University of Ibadan in Medicine and Surgery with a distinction in Pharmacology. Toluwalase is passionate about healthcare delivery in Nigeria, and strongly believes that health-related problems in low resource settings are best addressed locally and diseases and health related events among Africans may be the best way to understand the natural history of such events. He served as Programme Director of CHECK – a non-governmental organisation involved in health education, screening and diagnosis, especially in underserved communities and he used his role here and in other similar organisations to be involved in over 30 medical outreaches. He is equally passionate about the role education has in repositioning Africa. He regularly conducts talks and career outreaches amongst pre-varsity and Tertiary Institution Students.

More information on this year’s Rhodes Scholars and their biographies can be found here.

The new Scholars have been welcomed by Rhodes House staff and by the Rhodes Scholars already in residence at Oxford. The Scholar Welcome Team has organised a wide range of activities for the incoming class over their first two weeks in Oxford. CEO and Warden of Rhodes House Dr Elizabeth Kiss, herself newly arrived at Oxford, will extend a warm welcome to Scholars at the traditional Welcome Day event.

Dr Elizabeth Kiss commented: “I am looking forward to welcoming this new group of courageous young leaders and beginning to witness their commitment to deliver positive impact on the world. I am also pleased to see the Rhodes community continuing to grow and diversify as we add a new constituency to this year’s cohort.”

The number of Rhodes Scholars studying at the University of Oxford at any one time is more than 250 – a number which has grown significantly in recent years, as part of the Rhodes Trust’s geographic expansion programme. The Trust’s efforts to strengthen the reach of the Scholarship around the world means the 2019 class which is being selected this year will include the addition of two Global Scholarships, one Scholarship for East Africa (Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan and Burundi), one for Saudi Arabia in partnership with Muhammad Alagil, and the reinstatement of Singapore’s Rhodes Scholarship. Available to candidates from anywhere in the world, the Global Scholarships have already attracted applicants from over 30 new countries. Thanks to these new additions, Rhodes House will welcome an increased number of Scholars in 2019 as, for the first time in the Rhodes Trust’s 115-year history, there will be 100 Scholarships awarded annually.