We are delighted to welcome our inaugural Oxford Next Horizons Class of 2024, who started their journey in Oxford in January. 

Nineteen distinguished participants and four associate participants from around the world have joined the new programme in Oxford in 2024.

Oxford Next Horizons is a new programme, the first of its kind in Europe, designed by Harris Manchester College (HMC), the Oxford college dedicated to taking students, both undergraduate and postgraduate, aged 21 or over, and the Rhodes Trust, home of the world’s oldest and best-known international scholarship.

The Oxford Next Horizons Class of 24 

Rocky Blumhagen

Yoga Instructor, San Francisco, California.  

I have pursued four main interests throughout my life; vocal performance, radio sales and management, Yoga and mindfulness and life-long learning. I’ve been a Yoga practitioner for thirty years and teaching the last ten. The practice of Yoga coupled with a keen interest in spirituality has given my life meaning and purpose. My Oxford path will be the study of Yoga philosophy and to share my Kundalini Yoga practice on campus with my fellow students. For the past four years I have taught Yoga to my fellow Stanford DCI Classmates of 2019 and will continue this practice during my Oxford residency. rockyblumhagen.com   

Patricia Bowman

I’m currently retired, having had two careers:  the first as a real estate attorney and the second as a minister working in social outreach/faith-based advocacy and teaching Scripture.  I’ve studied on the East and West Coasts of the US and am excited now to have the opportunity to study in the UK and to discern next steps.  I love theatre, history and genealogy, and I’m looking forward to exploring Oxford and beyond.   

Alex Burger

I’m a writer, international development specialist, and sometimes professor.

In my writing life, I wrote South Africa’s most popular TV drama (Umlilo), my play The Cry of Winnie Mandela will premiere during our time in Oxford, and I have projects in the works in Los Angeles including a feminist sex drama, an African-American satire, and a Scooby Doo investigation of systemic racism.

 In my international development work, I’ve lived and worked in over fifty countries, mostly on the African continent. I teach interdisciplinary arts, storytelling, and leadership. I have an MBA from INSEAD and a BA in the Comparative Study of Religion from Harvard.

 I’m hoping from the ONHP for a moment of rest, to have some provocative conversations, and to attempt to gather my many selves together into one. I will write a play...

Tushara Dilanie 

Entrepreneur & Technologist, Advocate for Education, Healthcare, Longevity & Leadership.

Tushara is a global leader and entrepreneur with broad and deep experience in the IT Industry. She has incubated and scaled several global technology enterprises, and she currently serves as a Director and Advisor to several companies. Tushara is an advocate for education, healthcare, longevity and leadership, and an early-stage investor in purpose-driven companies.

Tushara’s philanthropic efforts are in a few institutions aligned to these areas of focus. At Loughborough University, Tushara studied Computer Science and Mathematics, and she recently served as an ALI Fellow at Harvard University and a DCI Fellow at Stanford University.  

Barbara Grewe

I am a Senior Principal for International Strategy and Policy at the MITRE Corporation, a non-profit chartered by the U.S. government. My recent focus has been on international cyber capacity building, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. I started this work by helping the Government of Japan prepare for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. 

I have spent my career reinventing myself – moving from private law practice to being a federal prosecutor to serving on the 9/11 Commission. I plan to examine the intersection of national security, economic security, and cybersecurity during my return to Oxford.  

Outside of work, I have developed a passion for international travel and have set a goal of visiting 75 countries. When not traveling, I can be found puttering in my garden. 

Lara Hoyem

I am currently working in a consumer start-up in the digital restaurant space, one of the last industries to embrace "going online." This company is the latest in a series spanning my 25 year career in consumer internet start-ups. It's been exciting (and sometimes agonizing) to be a part of the winding trajectories of companies, including BabyCenter.com, Shutterfly and Study.com where I had roles in marketing, product management, general management and data & insights. 

I studied Human Biology at Stanford as an undergraduate and started my career working in non-profit organizations. My desire for exploration through Next Horizons is in bringing together my professional life in start-ups with my ongoing interest in community service, specifically looking at NPO's and NGO's working in the field of Positive Youth Development and how they measure the impact of their efforts in communities.  Outside of work, I am developing a side-hustle with my oldest daughter around portrait and sports photography, a hobby that I pursued when my kids were younger. I am also working on several non-profit boards in the area of international development.   

Takaaki David Ito

I am a spiritual care educator and practitioner involved in introducing Healthcare Humanities in Japan. After retiring as the first Chair of Clinical Spiritual Care at Sophia University in 2022, I became an interfaith chaplain at Kosei General Hospital, founded by Rissho Kosei-kai, a global Buddhist movement. 
 
I graduated from International Christian University in Tokyo and pursued religious studies at SOAS in London and Oxford. Later, I obtained an M.Div from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific (Anglican-Episcopal) in Berkeley, CA. The intersection of medicine and religion has been the focus throughout my academic career. During my sabbatical year, I was a supervisor-in-residence for Clinical Pastoral Education at Stanford Medical Center. 
 
I am looking forward to singing in the HMC choir. 

David Ladensohn

Chama, New Mexico. I am largely retired from active business roles. My wife of 50 years and I have recently given up any truly permanent residence. These have left me free to experiment by writing a book about Leonardo da Vinci and fly-fishing (to be published in October, 2024); spending summers in our small cabin at 2400 meters in the southern Rocky Mountains; and living in different countries each winter. My interests are water conservation in the western U.S. and globally, time, civil discourse, science, history, mediation, and negotiation. I am an optimistic, happy person, invested heavily in friendships, and an avid fly-fisher. 

Robert Maloney

I’m currently managing partner of a cataract and LASIK center in Los Angeles. I studied mathematics at Harvard and PPE at Magdalen College, Oxford before entering medicine. I have published extensively on the safety of LASIK surgery, I cofounded a company that makes light-adjustable lens implants for cataract surgery (NASDAQ: RXST), and sit on the board of PIH Health System. I enjoy writing gently argumentative pieces for medical journals. I’m married to Nicole, a photographic artist, whose best-known work is the five metre high OOMO cube. We have three children: Keller, Pierce and Cleo. When I’m not working, I’m a fan of fly fishing, downhill skiing, Bordeaux wines and adventure travel. I plan to use my time at Oxford to study and write about the history of medicine. 

Rahul Mehta

I am a software technology entrepreneur and philanthropist from Houston. Similar to the movie slumdog millionaire, my life from a humble beginning in Mumbai to today has been due to kind people, determination, and luck. In 1978, I wandered into the United States Library in Bombay, India, where I discovered opportunities to study in America. After four successful companies, I am now creating educational opportunities for others through my foundation. 

In pursuit of learning and personal growth, I attended the Stanford University Distinguished Career Institute in 2021. At Next Horizon, I want to understand Leadership, India’s past, present, and future, climate, and global health. 

I appreciate spending time with family and friends and having deep conversations over a meal. I enjoy hiking, and my love of travel has led me to explore every continent. I am very grateful to my family, colleagues, and friends who have made my journey possible. 

Lisa Murphy

Ram Nallapati

I successfully built a high growth business for Illinois Tool Works, a US Fortune 200 company in India, and retired in 2022 as the Whole Time Director and President of Polymers & Fluids, ITW India after an exciting 32-year journey.   

On the Community front, I’ve worked on adopting a village high school to build infrastructure & improve enrolment, initiated a program to train women in sales to increase participation in industry, and constructing homes for disaster-stricken indigenous tribes.   

I find joy in traveling, reading Shakespeare, party planning, and farming. 

Catherine Neiner

Catherine F. Neiner has served as the director of several prominent USA university career centers. She is one of the primary architects of the innovative College to Career initiative that supports students’ progression to career. She is an inducted member of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Academy of Fellows, the profession’s highest honor. In the mid-2000’s, she was awarded a Fulbright to work in Germany with the nascent university career services profession. She served on several Boards of Directors and in numerous leadership positions. She has been an invited speaker for major conferences and has written on career and women’s leadership topics. Her research revolves around recruiting women into non-traditional disciplines and on women’s progression through mid-career. She is an advisor to a non-profit that provides resources to educate children in Cambodia.

She is a weaver and embroiderer, proud mother of three objectively remarkable children, and a believer in each person’s ability to make a unique contribution to the world.

Errol Norwitz

As my wife and three children can attest, my life has not been a straight line. I trained/worked as a physician-scientist in five countries on three continents. I’m passionate about improving maternal-child health, both as a clinician (Ob/Gyn, maternal-fetal medicine provider) and researcher (basic scientist, member of NICHD's Board of Scientific Counselors), while looking for opportunities to get out of my comfort zone, develop new skills, and amplify my impact on healthcare. Most recently, after going back to business school, I served as President/CEO of a large, community-based academic medical center in Boston. Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my family, traveling internationally (especially back to Oxford), writing, and exercising (although my marathon and rugby days are barely visible in my rearview mirror).  

Richard Royse

I was born and raised in Portland, Oregon.  My parents owned a small motel, café, and tavern.  Throughout my teenage years, I worked as busboy, fry cook, and housekeeper.  I cleaned rooms, washed dishes, and de-veined and shelled shrimp.  This work experience-along with a University of Chicago MBA- was great preparation for a multi-decade career in investment banking from which I retired in 2004.  

Since “retirement,” my partner of 30 years, and fellow Next Horizons Scholar Rocky Blumhagen, both participated in Stanford’s Distinguished Careers Institute (DCI).  In 2014, I completed a Master of Liberal Arts degree, also at Stanford, with a thesis examining the beginnings of the United States Public Health Service.  My focus at Oxford is understanding homelessness as a public health issue. 

Laurance Splitter

Now retired (against my will!) from academic employment, I remain intellectually active, with my book Identity, Reasonableness, and Being 'One Among Others': Dialogue, Community, Education just published by Springer. The book follows a theme I have practised most of my adult life: to demonstrate the practical (“real world”) value of (analytic) philosophy. I pioneered the introduction of Philosophy for Children in Australian schools during the 1980s and, since then, have attempted to keep one foot in the rigorous domain of philosophy, and one foot in the complex, contested, AND “REAL WORLD”  fieldS of education AND SOCIAL ISSUES. I was a professor in universities in the USA and Hong Kong before returning to Australia in 2015. Since a major theme of my work is around dialogue, the importance of diversity, and the imperative of intellectual humility (recognizing our fallibility), the Next Horizons program is a great opportunity for me.   

I am both a lover of, and participant in, choral singing (I worship at the feet of J. S. Bach), and current president of a reasonably prestigious choral association in Melbourne; a keen walker, reluctant gym-goer, and reader. Like everyone else, I am slowly becoming accustomed to travelling overseas again, and am very much looking forward to participating in Next Horizons next year.    

Maureen Seeley

I am an adventure tourism professional with over twenty years of experience. My expertise in itinerary development emphasizes cultural, economic, and environmental sustainability and risk management. I have worked in the US, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East with organizations ranging from a boutique mountaineering company specializing in climbing the highest peaks on earth to one of the most prominent luxury tour operators in the world, Abercrombie and Kent. Through the Adventure Travel Trade Association, I advised tour operators and regional and national tourism boards how to attract their target audience and create distinctive, awe-inspiring experiences that increase engagement and sales through a responsible tourism lens with safety at the forefront.

Originally from Syracuse, NY, I earned a B.S. in Biology with a minor in chemistry from Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, IN. I did graduate work in toxicology at the University of Washington. However, my experiences outside the laboratory proved more powerful for me than those inside the laboratory.

I trained in mountaineering and was a member of a Seattle women’s expedition to climb Singu Chuli in Nepal. After the expedition, I spent a year trekking and exploring South Asia and Thailand. This experience inspired me to pivot to pursue a career in adventure tourism. While I have not spent her career curing cancer or inventing the next technological breakthrough, I’ve helped thousands of people achieve their dreams through travel.

I co-founded a Women In Nature program and have volunteered with The Mountaineers, Refugee Women’s Alliance, and Full Life Care Elder Friend’s program.

I am an avid mountain hiker and scrambler, power walker, and yogi. Health and fitness are important to me. I believe time in nature is the best medicine. I also love to dance, be crafty, and take photos of my adventures. When not traveling the globe, I divide my time between Seattle’s nearby mountains and Houston, TX where I reside with my life partner.

Ron Stevenson

I am a lawyer who specialises in constitutional issues related to the rights of Indigenous peoples in Canada. We live in Ottawa but we both come from Newfoundland. I have spent a big chunk of my life in school and have degrees from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Oxford, the University of Victoria, Osgoode Hall Law School and the University of Oxford. At Oxford, I pursued an M.Phil. In Politics and I completed a doctorate not so long ago on political theory and aboriginal rights. My passion is finding practical ways the legal system can serve justice. In theory, though not necessarily in practice, I am now retired and work part-time and have more time to pursue other interests. I have lots of other interests! Music, literature, spending time in the wilderness and travel are important to me.

Alison Van Rooy

I am a long-time civil servant, researcher, and policy analyst, keenly interested in international affairs and Canada’s role in the world. After 28+ years, I am curious about the way important ideas work their way through government organizations, and how ordinary people can help shape them. I am grateful for the Rhodes Scholarship (Prairies & Lincoln 1990) that allowed me to earn a DPhil in International Relations all those years ago, and I am excited to return to Oxford to reflect in the company of thoughtful, ethically-driven, and globally-minded people. I have two university-aged children and live with my partner on British Columbia’s west coast, close to great kayaking.