Will Flintoft (OM 2021)
When considering his upcoming studies at Oxford University, Rhodes Scholar-elect Will Flintoft (OM 2021) hopes to delve deeper into two very topical subjects: the rise of generative artificial intelligence, and global inequality.
“Generative artificial intelligence is both a promising engine of change, but also a global development for which governments and regulators are probably underprepared,” he says.
“When it comes to inequality, Australian outcomes in terms of life expectancy, happiness, earnings, and health are tremendously stratified by wealth and background, and by some measures, poverty has become worse here over the last decade.
“Quite how to weave these motivating problems into a stimulating, meaningful career that matches my skills is something for me to discover,” he says.
Just over 100 students worldwide are chosen to become Rhodes Scholars annually. Will is the 20th Old Melburnian set to become a Rhodes Scholar, joining an impressive and accomplished list of academics.
But first, he will complete his studies at Harvard University, where his focus lies in the dual fields of philosophy and applied mathematics. He is currently writing a thesis on Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem, a logical problem concerning how maths is proved.
While studying at the Ivy League institution, Will has overseen the Harvard Review of Philosophy and Harvard Undergraduate Law Review publications as Managing Editor and Editorial Chair respectively. He has also competed with the Heavyweight Rowing team, sung with acapella group ‘Harvard Krokodiloes’, and led a community service program teaching maths and English to low-income students in inner Boston.
Will received his acceptance on a brief trip home to Australia late last year, and was with his family when the exciting news came through. Come October, he will be studying a DPhil (PhD) in Mathematics at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.
“The Rhodes is both an unparalleled opportunity for young university grads to deepen their capacities at one of the world’s leading universities, and also a call to use that education for the betterment of the community,” Will says.
“In my own case, I have always seen that which I study in the classroom as continuous with the problems out in the world that motivate me.”
Will commenced at Melbourne Grammar as a Prep student, and became an accomplished debater, orator, actor, and musician during his time at the School. During his final years, which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, he was named Captain of the School and became the 2021 Proxime Accessit and the recipient of a Premier’s VCE Award, scoring the highest-possible ATAR of 99.95.
Still in the thick of his studies, Will is not yet willing to speculate about the career that awaits him. In fact, Will says the “pre-professionalisation” of learning, and the view that a good education can only be measured by how prepared students are for employment, is a predication that concerns him.
“A thought experiment is helpful here: what moments left the strongest impressions on you from your time at school? I have yet to find someone whose answer was anything even vaguely pre-professional, or related to utility or employment,” Will says.
“More likely, it was an interaction with a teacher with whom you were particularly close after struggling through an exam; struggling down Mount Hotham in the snow; walking off the Main after a thumping victory; witnessing a science experiment gone wrong at the Hub; walking onstage before an orchestra concert.
“Students and parents are not owed – and neither should they expect – any particular employment prospects or university placement from education,” Will says.
“On the flip side, they are owed, and can expect, a transformative personal and intellectual experiencein spite of the call of graduation. What makes school special is precisely that for a few precious years it lets young people explore and test and discover – and frequently make mistakes – without any expectations from the world outside.”
Will adds that the two-way exchange of ideas he experienced while at Melbourne Grammar is one of the aspects of his education he has come to value most.
“When I think back to my most transformative experiences as a student – both at Melbourne Grammar, and now at the end of my time at college – the central element has been the teacher, mentor, or professor,” he says.
“Education – good education, that is – is about so much more than the transmission of facts. My time at school was enriched by the teachers who challenged me, made time for me, and who spoke with me.”