23-year-old University of Queensland Arts/Law student Nicholas Luke has been chosen as the 2006 Queensland Rhodes Scholar.
The Governor of Queensland, Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce, AC made the announcement this evening (Friday, November 4) at UQ`s St Lucia campus.
Mr Luke, of St Lucia, who is completing his final UQ law exams next week, hopes to study literature at either a Masters or Doctoral level at the University of Oxford from October next year.
“I’d like to follow in the footsteps of some of my teachers in English and make a difference,” he said.
“Humanities is a neglected area of focus in Brisbane and Australia and I’d like to play some role in drawing attention to this discipline and inspiring others to study it in future.
“I have a passion and enthusiasm for literature and would like to share this with others.”
Mr Luke was awarded his Arts honours degree in 2004, after submitting a thesis supervised by UQ’s Dr Ruth Blair. The thesis drew parallels between Captain Ahab, a character in Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick, and Satan in Milton’s poem, Paradise Lost.
Mr Luke ultimately hopes to be an academic specialising in literature criticism.
He is a member of the University of Queensland Law moot team which became international champions this year after winning the final of a prestigious global mooting competition.
The UQ Law School Jessup Moot team won the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition in Washington, USA in April. The competition, which is the largest of its kind internationally comprised the best competitors from 85 countries around the world.
Mr Luke attended Brisbane Grammar School, where he played cricket and Rugby. He has subsequently coached cricket at Brisbane Grammar and St Margaret’s, and played for Valleys and Warehouse teams, and played Rugy for Brisbane Irish and UQ Law Society.
After he finishes his exams, he plans to conduct research into human rights at the South-East Asian Human Rights Documentation Centre in New Delhi.
Mr Luke will follow in the footsteps of high-profile Rhodes Scholars including former US President Bill Clinton and former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke.
The selection committee interviewed five short-listed candidates before choosing Mr Luke.
The Queensland Rhodes Scholar will join five winners from the other states and five from Australia-at-Large — a total of 11.
This year the selection committee received 26 applications for the scholarship.
The 2005 Rhodes Scholar was UQ Bachelor of Economics student Simon Quinn, who left last month to study for a Master of Philosophy (Mphil) in Economics at Oxford. Mr Quinn and Mr Luke are friends, and he looks forward to seeing him overseas.
Background to Rhodes Scholarships
Rhodes Scholarships, founded in 1902 under the will of the late Cecil John Rhodes, are tenable at the University of Oxford for an initial two years, with the possibility of a third.
Candidates must be aged between 19 and 25 years and citizens of the country from which they are selected.
Scholarships are assigned annually in Australia, Canada, India, Jamaica, New Zealand, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, the United States, Germany, British Caribbean, Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan, Kenya and Hong Kong.
Since the scheme began, about 500 Rhodes Scholars have been selected. Women became eligible in 1972.
The first Rhodes Scholarship awarded in Queensland was won in 1904 by Arthur Stanley Roe, five years before an Act of Parliament was passed to set up The University of Queensland.
The qualities set out by the late Cecil Rhodes for those seeking Rhodes Scholarships include academic and intellectual excellence, integrity of character, respect for fellow beings and a capacity for leadership. Sporting prowess is an advantage, but not a necessity.
Media: Further information, Jan King, 0413 601 248.
