Celebrating Jesse Schelfhout: 2022 Rhodes Scholar

Postgraduate physics student and St Catherine’s College (UWA) resident, Jesse Schelfhout, has been named Western Australia’s Rhodes Scholar for 2022, recognising his potential as a young global ambassador. He is UWA’s 106th Rhodes Scholar in 108 years.

The Rhodes Scholarship is the oldest (first awarded in 1902) and most prestigious international scholarship programme, enabling outstanding young people from around the world to study at the University of Oxford.

Jesse, 22, has been a resident of St Catherine’s for five years, during which he achieved a Bachelor of Philosophy with First Class Honours in Physics and is currently completing a Masters of Physics (Experimental) at UWA. He is also an Academic Tutor and the Postgraduate Coordinator at the College; positions he uses to foster a thriving academic and intellectual culture.

At the University of Oxford, Jesse plans to undertake a DPhil in Atomic and Laser Physics, where he intends to work on cutting-edge experiments to broaden understanding of fundamental physics.

“The experiment I’m looking at working on is around atom interferometry, a maturing quantum technology that has demonstrated the highest sensitivity in gravity measurements,” he said.

“The quantum technology industry is projected to be $40 billion by 2040 and impacts areas such as defence and cyber security, mining, healthcare, defence and the biomedical industry.”

Jesse is also an accomplished euphonium player and State open medallist in javelin, who intends to vie for a place in the 2028 Australian Olympic team.

Head of College, Fiona Crowe, said Jesse is a highly valued member of the St Catherine’s community, who gives a lot of his time to mentoring and tutoring residents.

“Jesse is an exceptional scholar and I have every confidence that Jesse will go on to make a significant contribution to science and will be much lauded for his efforts. His time at the University of Oxford will enable him to explore various branches of physics and help us to better understand our universe”, she said.

The Honourable Kim Beazley AC, Governor of Western Australia and himself a Rhodes Scholar, who presented Jesse with the award, said he exemplified the values of a Rhodes Scholar.

“I’m very proud in a small way to be associated with Jesse today – he has some amazing intellectual challenges ahead and will make some great friendships and meet some inspiring colleagues. This will rocket charge his career and he will soar,” Mr Beazley said.

Jesse said he was thrilled to have been given the opportunity to experience everything that Oxford had to offer.

“It’s a very profound university and a wonderful collegiate system and I’m looking forward to working alongside the Rhodes Scholar community. I’m also very grateful for the support I have had to explore new opportunities such as the Leadership roles at College which have really provided me with new skills. ” he said.

Jesse joins a distinguished group of St Catherine’s Alumni, who have been awarded prestigious national and international scholarships, including Mark Shelton who won the Monash Scholarship, Tania Loke who won the Malaysian Rhodes Scholarship and Josh Dunne and Francesca Cary who both won Fulbright Scholarships