Queen’s College is proud to share the exciting news that Nicholas Felstead (Wyvern 2014) and Georgina Ryan (Wyvern 2018) are 2024 John Monash Scholarship recipients.

Nicholas and Georgina will both receive $75,000 per year for up to three years to further their study, while joining a collaborative and actively connected community of 262 fellow scholars. They will gain admission into the John Monash Foundation Leadership Academy and benefit from lifelong professional development while enhancing their capacity for international collaboration and leadership in their field.

Nicholas, the Victorian Government John Monash Scholar will study a Master of Laws at Harvard University.

Nicholas is a competition lawyer and academic researcher, currently working as a judge’s associate at the Federal Court of Australia. He graduated from Melbourne Law School with First Class Honours and served as Editor of the Melbourne University Law Review. His studies will explore how the constitutional foundations of competition law influence modern attitudes towards enforcement and digital platform regulation. He hopes to return to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and help consolidate its position as a global leader in competition enforcement and digital platform regulation.

“My interest in competition and consumer law was, in part, inspired by Rod Sims AO (Wyvern 1969) and his work at the ACCC. Unregulated digital platforms can harm consumers and markets, generative AI poses unknown threats to market stability, and the future of the administrative state is being challenged in the courts. I want to bring my expertise to these issues and work towards a better, fairer Australia.”

Georgina, the Commonwealth Bank John Monash Scholar will pursue a Doctor of Philosophy (Mathematics) at the University of Oxford.

Georgina, a former National President of United Nations Youth Australia, is an applied mathematician who wants to improve Australia’s mathematical literacy as a science communicator, believing Australians’ fear of mathematics impedes their ability to unite in the face of global issues. Georgina plans to advocate for the place of underrepresented groups in mathematics, particularly young women, LGBTIQA+ people, and people with disabilities. Georgina completed a Bachelor of Science followed by a Master of Science (Mathematics and Statistics) at the University of Melbourne.

“In the long term, I would like to work with the government as an adviser on policy to encourage people to engage with mathematical thinking at all ages.”