International recognition
by
Michèle Nardelli
It
may be October 2006 before UniSA Rhodes scholar Ryan Manuel heads off to
Oxford to begin his three-year scholarship study program in Modern
Chinese Studies, but he won’t be resting on his laurels in the meantime.
With his honours thesis dealing with China-Australia relations in its final stages, he also has plans to write a book with his supervisor, Dr Terry O’Callaghan, and to start on further research in 2006 with the Boston Consulting Group.
Manuel won the inaugural Ehrenberg Scholarship for marketing in 2001 and completed his double degree in International Studies and Marketing from UniSA, winning the University Medal in 2004.
As the first student from UniSA to receive the Rhodes Scholarship, Manuel believes UniSA has encouraged a broad approach to education.
His application for the Rhodes Scholarship was supported by his teachers Dr Cam Rungie, Dr Terry O’Callaghan and the Vice Chancellor Professor Denise Bradley. In her recommendation, Prof Bradley said Manuel showed true leadership qualities.
“Ryan is an extraordinary young man… he reads widely and understands broad ideas and concepts, well beyond his fields of specialisation, experience and his years. Despite his considerable successes, Ryan remains open, kind, compassionate and humble,” Prof Bradley said.
“The Rhodes Scholarship will allow me to continue my research on China, to examine its implications for Australian foreign policy in an environment where I will have access to some of the world’s greatest thinkers, and at an institution that is probably the world’s best for my field of research. It also gives me access to Chinese policy makers and diplomats and will help me become fluent in Mandarin Chinese,” Manuel said.