Noah Adisa Rudder, 21, youngest son of calypso icon David Michael Rudder was recently named among 11 Canadian students awarded Rhodes Scholarships to study at Oxford University next year. A fourth-year student from Ajax, Ontario, studying at Victoria College, University of Toronto, Noah is pursuing a double major in Peace, Conflict and Justice, and Drama.
A November 18 release from the Rhodes Trust stated: “Eleven academically accomplished and civic-minded young Canadians have won the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship for Canada this year, continuing an extraordinary legacy that began in 1903.”
Noah and peers “join a class of over 100 scholars worldwide to attend Oxford University next year, who stood out for their diversity of backgrounds and interests, exceptional academic achievement, inspiring leadership and civic engagement. Scholarships were awarded after a competitive selection process.”
The Rhodes Scholarship is the world’s preeminent and oldest graduate fellowship. The rigorous selection process aims to choose young people with proven academic excellence, exceptional character, leadership skills, and a desire to use their talents towards solving humanity’s problems.
Noah hopes to pursue a Master of Public Policy and a Master of Fine Arts while at Oxford.
The one-year public policy master’s programme at Oxford “offers a distinctive approach to learning about public policy; a transformative opportunity to current and future leaders with a commitment to public service,” and the one-year master’s in fine arts, is “an intensive studio-based programme in the practice of contemporary art.”
Noah’s achievement is being celebrated by the Rudder family which includes parents David and Christine and siblings.
David said he feels blessed. He recalled that for Noah’s 17th birthday, he referred to him as Mr Enchanted and encouraged him to “keep on being clear and magical.”
Explaining his decision to pursue two fields of study, Noah said: “It is what I know, the family I was born into and the culture I come from.”
Noah’ a writer and actor, is writing a play and has performed in the Toronto Fringe Festival and University of Toronto productions, including the Bob Sketch Comedy Revue.
He worked with the Office of the President of Victoria College to implement the Scarborough Charter on Anti-Black Racism which was signed in February and won the Crescam Serviendo Student Leadership Award and Bader Opportunity Award for leadership and academic excellence.
Noah also did research with the World Bank’s Office of the Chief Economist with a focus on knowledge generation in African nations pre-2009.
