Caymans girl wins Rhodes Scholarship

(Barbados Nation) Shmona Simpson, a model student of the Cayman Islands and the holder of a first-class honours degree from the University of London, is the latest recipient of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.

Simpson, 23, who has an MSc in global health from the University of Oxford, was announced the 2012 winner at Government House yesterday, joining a list of past winners that included American president Bill Clinton (1968) and former vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies Rex Nettleford (1957).

Shmona Simpson
Shmona Simpson

“It’s an achievement, an honour because the candidates this year were of excellent quality. I feel truly humble to have won the scholarship for 2012,” Simpson said before an audience that included Acting Governor General Elliott Belgrave and Chief Justice Marston Gibson.

Named after Cecil Rhodes, the Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford and according to Simpson, it goes way beyond academic attainment.