KINGSTON, Jamaica — Tiana Shante Dinham has been named the 2026 Jamaica Rhodes Scholar, emerging the top candidate from a pool of eight finalists following deliberations by the Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee on Thursday.
Dinham, who hails from Hanover and is a proud past student of Mount Alvernia High School, is currently pursuing studies in Geological and Earth Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also the founder of RISE — the Rainwater Initiative for Sustainability and Empowerment, a project developed in partnership with the Hanover Health Department to expand water access in underserved communities. Through RISE, Dinham helped raise funds to install water tanks across several districts and trained recipients in safe water collection, treatment, and storage.
- Advertisement -
With a strong commitment to environmental resilience and sustainable development, Dinham plans to pursue a master’s degree in Water Science, Policy and Management, as well as Sustainability, Enterprise and the Environment. She will begin her fully funded postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford in October 2026, joining a global cohort of more than 100 Rhodes Scholars dedicated to creating positive change worldwide.
The Rhodes Scholarship, first awarded in 1902, is the world’s oldest and most prestigious international scholarship program. It provides exceptional young leaders the opportunity to study at Oxford and become part of a renowned community of scholars, innovators, and changemakers.
This year’s Jamaica selection committee was chaired by Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen. Other members included Mariame McIntosh Robinson (1998 Jamaica Rhodes Scholar and Rhodes Trust national secretary for Jamaica), Professor Trevor Munroe (1966), Paul Lalor (1990), Dr Nadiya Figueroa (2007), Dr Alecia Johns-Nunes (2010), and Professor Michael Taylor, dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering and head of the Climate Studies Group at the University of the West Indies.
Jamaica has a distinguished history of Rhodes Scholars, including Norman Manley, Noel Nethersole, Rex Nettleford, Dudley Thompson, and Hector Wynter. Among the living scholars are Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck, Minister of Finance Dr Nigel Clarke, and former Minister of Education Ronnie Thwaites.
