'Straight A' student recognised with prestigious scholarship

‘Straight A’ student recognised with prestigious scholarship

‘Straight A’ University of Canterbury (UC) student Josh McSkimming is New Zealand’s top economics student and was recently honoured with the prestigious Sir Frank Holmes award in recognition.

The annual scholarship provided by the Motu Research and Education Foundation is named after Sir Frank Holmes, one of New Zealand’s great economists. Sponsored by the Hugo Group, it is awarded to the top New Zealand tertiary economics student. The prize is to encourage the top quantitative economics student to further their studies in econometrics at Honours or Master’s level. Josh intends to use the prize to fund his Master of Commerce in Economics at UC.

Josh, who is graduating with a Bachelor of Science double majoring in Economics and Financial Engineering, was “extremely honoured” to receive the award.

“I have always strived to maintain high standards and receiving this is a great accomplishment for me and my love of economics. I feel privileged to have received such a prestigious award bearing the name of such a revered New Zealand economist and know I could not have achieved this without the teaching support and calibre of lecturers at UC,” he says.

A talented mathematician, Josh describes economics as a way of explaining the complexities of the world around him.

“My passion for numbers started at high school. I became attracted to the idea of being able to explain one of the main driving forces of modern humanity; the economy. I particularly enjoy being able to understand incentives people respond to, and how economies behave on a collective level.”

A promising future in economics awaits Josh although he has yet to commit to a particular path.

“After my Master’s, I see the world as an open book. I hope to be involved in the area of risk and insurance because they include aspects of the subjects I enjoy as part of my study.”

Josh was nominated for the award by UC’s Head of Economics Dr Richard Watt.

“Josh is a talented economist who understands intricacies of the economy. He works hard at his studies and I am thrilled to see him recognised for his work through this award and interested to see where his future studies will take him,” Dr Watt says.

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