Kearsney old boy to study neuroscience at Oxford
Alex von Klemperer has been offered a prestigious Rhodes scholarship to further his studies in neuroscience at Oxford University.
KLOOF resident, Alex von Klemperer, has been offered a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to further his studies in neuroscience at Oxford University.
A medical graduate from the University of Cape Town, Alex recently completed his internship at Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto. He was Dux of Kearsney College in 2006 and is the school’s third Rhodes Scholar after Gavin Williams and David Polkinghorne.
Alex is currently deemed to be a Rhodes scholar elect, only officially becoming a Rhodes scholar when he arrives at Oxford in October this year. His scholarship covers a one-year Masters in Neuroscience and a three-year DPhil, during which he plans to study neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia, epilepsy and Parkinson’s. He is also interested in studying the overlap between HIV/Aids and tuberculosis.
Alex has been assigned to Merton College at Oxford, the first fully self-governing college at the University, succeeding many eminent alumni, including Walter de Merton, a former Chancellor of England and later Bishop of Rochester, Nobel Prize-winning poet TS Eliot, author JRR Tolkien and physician Sir Andrew Wiles, the first person to detail how blood is pumped around the body by the heart.
Oxford will not be unfamiliar to Alex, as he spent a one-month student elective there in 2011, studying clinical neurology.
Thrilled at the opportunities that a Rhodes scholarship offers, Alex is adamant that he wants to return to South Africa on its completion.
His all-round strengths were evident at school, where he was in the top percentage in SA’s science, English and maths olympiads and also represented Kearsney in canoeing, canoe polo, rugby and debating. Alex received the news that he had received eight distinctions in his IEB matric results as he was wheeled into theatre following a skiing accident in the United States.
He credits Kearsney College with having offered him great academic opportunities. “The staff are absolutely passionate about teaching and certainly assisted immensely in helping me to achieve the academic successes I have. They also encourage a balance, through the school’s cultural and sporting opportunities,” he said.
