Scotch College

John Feddersen, Rhodes Scholar – a passion for learning, sport, and humanity

Scotch’s latest Rhodes Scholar yearns to influence positive social change.

Words: DAVID ASHTON Photo: Jocelyn Pride

John Feddersen, an Old Scotch boy from the class of 2000, has been selected as Victoria’s Rhodes Scholar for 2008 – our first Rhodes Scholar since (now Professor) Elsdon Storey in 1980.

John has completed a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics), a Bachelor of Science (Mathematics and Statistics) and a Diploma of Modern Languages (German), while successfully continuing his hockey career, nurtured at Scotch, and taking an active involvement in surf lifesaving.

Nine Rhodes Scholarships are awarded each year, one for each Australian state and one each for the Northern Territory, the ACT, and for a runner-up selected from one of the six states. 

The Victorian Rhodes Scholarship is based on four main criteria: scholastic attainment, sport and extracurricular participation, community service and potential for leadership within the community.

The scholarship provides two or three years’ fully-funded study at Oxford University, as well as a monthly stipend.

At Oxford, John plans to take a Master of Philosophy Degree in Economics, and then to submit for a PhD.

For John, hockey has always been a driving passion. He was Captain of Hockey at Scotch in 2000, as well as Captain of Squash. He coached the 1st Hockey team in 2003 and is the Hawthorn (formerly Old Scotch) Hockey Club representative with OSCA.

John was selected in the Australian under 19 team and the Australian Universities teams, and he has been awarded five hockey blues at Melbourne University.

A surf lifesaver at Lorne, John was club beach flags champion in 2004, received his bronze medallion in 2002 and his training officer certificate in 2004. He was also an active patrol member from 2002 to 2006.

John has taken a keen interest in community service, both locally and internationally. He tutors Sudanese young people weekly in Braybrook, and he has spent time overseas, volunteering in Thailand and India. 

He led a study tour to South Africa for a group of Australian business leaders and young people who did voluntary work for a community organisation, and he has also established a link between Ormond College and the Uniting Church of Zambia. This has enabled Melbourne University students to volunteer at a hospital and participate in a feeding program in Zambia during semester breaks.

Currently a resident tutor at Ormond College in Economics, John has also been involved with the administration of Ormond College through their students’ club, and as a member of the college council. 

John believes that after completing his studies as a Rhodes Scholar he would be in a strong position to influence positive social change. ‘In the long term, I would like to focus on Australian public policy, possibly through entry into public service or politics,’ he says.

The Scotch Family congratulates John on his scholarship, and wishes him well at Oxford and in whatever follows for this talented and committed young man.