Brisbane Girls Grammar School Gazette, Issue 2 2022

Incredible Alumnae Achievements

Queensland’s 2023 Rhodes Scholar

Economist, athlete and BGGS graduate, Josephine Auer (2015), was announced by Queensland Governor, The Honourable Dr Jeannette Young AC PSM, as the state’s newest recipient of the world’s oldest and most prestigious international scholarship program.

Josephine Auer (2015)

Photo supplied by Queensland University of Technology (QUT)

Since graduating from BGGS in 2015, Josephine has continued to progress and achieve both in the classroom and beyond.

In 2019 Josephine completed a Bachelor of Advanced Finance and Economics (BAdvFin&Econ) (Hons) at The University of Queensland (UQ) with a perfect GPA of 7, and was awarded the University Medal for her year. She was part of the degree’s inaugural cohort and Valedictorian of the Economics School, and was named UQ’s 2020 Graduate of the Year.

A talented athlete, Josephine won several national age titles in the 800 m and 1500 m while she was a student at Girls Grammar, and made the 2018 Commonwealth Games trials in the 1500 m. Her passion for running continued into her post-schooling life, and in 2021 Josephine was the Bridge to Brisbane open 10 km women’s champion, and won the Australian University Games 10000 m and 5000 m titles the same year.

Josephine intends to use her Rhodes Scholarship to study a two-year Master of Philosophy (Economics) at the University of Oxford—an exciting new chapter following her BAdvFin&Econ (Hons) at UQ. Outstandingly, she is also nearing the completion of a Bachelor of Mathematics, with a major in statistics and pure math.

‘I know the globally renowned MPhil Economics program will build upon my existing background in economics and mathematics and provide a strong foundation to progress to doctoral research in my area of interest.

‘I am most excited by the opportunity to develop the skills and tools needed to live a life of impactful service,’ Josephine said, following the announcement.

The Rhodes Scholarship is, indeed, a prestigious honour, and Josephine is the fourth BGGS alumnae to receive this award. Grammar Woman, Dr Beth Woods (1972), was one of the first Australian women to ever receive this scholarship in 1977 and went on to become the first female professor at UQ’s Gatton campus, and the first female head of the Queensland Government’s agriculture-related department.

In 1994, Dr Elsina Wainwright (1988) received the honour and used it to complete both her Master’s and Doctorate in International Relations at the University of Oxford. In 2018 she was awarded a Member of the Order (AM) in the Australia Day Honours for significant service to international affairs, through Australian defence, foreign policy, and conflict prevention studies, as an analyst and academic

Now a Lecturer at the TC Beirne School of Law at UQ, teaching in the Law of Evidence, Constitutional Law, and Public International Law, Dr Caitlin Goss (2001), received the Rhodes Scholarship in 2009 and obtained her DPhil in comparative constitutional law at the University of Oxford, where she previously read for a Bachelor of Civil Law and an MPhil in Law.

Under the Will of the late Cecil John Rhodes, Rhodes Scholarships are postgraduate awards, recognising outstanding all-round students and enabling them to study at the University of Oxford. Scholars are selected each year from countries around the world based on the qualities Cecil Rhodes set out: academic and intellectual excellence; integrity of character; respect for fellow beings; and a capacity for leadership.