Shaheen Seedat

Shaheen Seedat

BEconSci, Wits - Summa Cum Laude
BEconSci(Hons), Wits - Summa Cum Laude and Mandela Rhodes Scholar
BSc(Hons) Pure Mathematics, Wits – Summa Cum Laude and Mandela Rhodes Scholar
DPhil (PhD) student in Financial Economics, University of Oxford – Rhodes Scholar

2010 was an outstanding year in my life and The Mandela Rhodes Foundation (MRF) and Mandela Rhodes Scholarship were instrumental in making it such.

Mandela Rhodes Scholarships are more than just financial scholarships as the MRF also invests, in a non-pecuniary sense, into each of its scholars during their ‘year in residence’ and then maintains a close association with them for the remainder of their careers and lives.

The highlights of my ‘residence year’ include the unique series of leadership workshops and retreats and forming close friendships with fellow Scholars. Throughout these interactions, I was exposed to a spectrum of opinions and ideologies, many passionately different to my own. This forced me to contemplate deeply – and to refine and sharpen my own views.

During my ‘year in residence’, I read for concurrent double Honours in economic science and pure mathematics. This allowed me to develop the mathematical and quantitative tools and skills to pursue a Doctorate (PhD) in financial economics at Oxford. My research interests presently entail developing mathematical and statistical models to understand the financial economic phenomena we observe with the ambition of both explaining such events and forecasting. Such research areas deeply interest me given recent and still on-going events and the plethora of questions that thus require rigorous academic scrutiny. While my future ambitions remain dynamic and evolving, my experience as a Mandela Rhodes Scholar has provided me with a framework within which to contemplate and internally debate such choices.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank  the MRF in its entirety – and, in particular, Deputy CEO and Scholarships Manager Mrs Theresa Laaka-Daniels and CEO Mr Shaun Johnson (South Africa-at-Large & St. Catherine's, 1982) - for an unrivalled opportunity and their continued support. It is an absolute honour to have an association with an organisation of such high repute. I would further like to thank my professors, lecturers and mentors who have provided guidance to me over the years.