Faculty | The Oxford Prep Experience Faculty

David Benedictus. BA (Hons), MA Oxford. The author of twenty-five books, David has also been widely involved in film and television as a director and producer, working with the BBC and Francis Ford Coppola. As Commissioning Editor for Drama at Channel 4 in the UK, he won an International Emmy for Porterhouse Blue, the comical tale of a fictitious Oxbridge college. A former Judith E. Wilson Visiting Fellow in Creative Writing at Cambridge University, David has written widely in the British media, has taught at the Oxford School of Drama, and now teaches at Putney High School in London.

Matthew Carpenter-Arévalo. BA (Hons) St Thomas University, MPhil Oxford. A Canadian Rhodes Scholar at Wolfson College, Oxford University, Matthew is studying the postcolonial analysis of Latin American literature. He has considerable experience of Latin American culture that translates into a passion for its literature, having worked as Project Coordinator on the Sigchos Development Project in Ecuador. He has represented Oxford University as an ice hockey player and is a baseball coach in his native Canada. A keen student actor, journalist, and musician, he also impresses audiences as a stand-up comedian. 

Simon Purse. BSc (Hons) Durham University.  A London-based professional actor, Simon is a member of the Original Shakespeare Company. While at Durham University, Simon was involved in 27 different productions either onstage or off. Since then, he has directed numerous professional productions, ranging from Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream to the Victorian vampire play London by Night.  He has taught drama for several studios and universities, including Drama Studio London, Stanford University, and Loyola Marymount University.

Grace Pattison. BA (Hons) Surrey Institute of Art & Design, MA University of Westminster. Grace is a London-based photographer with 8 years’ experience working with commercial photographers in the UK and abroad. Having traveled extensively with her camera throughout Europe, Asia and the US, her most recently published stories have been focused on London, including features about the city’s rickshaw-rider community and the under-18s music scene. 

Meghan Sullivan. BA (Hons) University of Virginia, MPhil Oxford. Meghan completed her Master’s of Philosophy at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and is now the Bunting-Cobb Head Graduate Fellow at Rutgers University where she is pursuing her doctorate. As an undergraduate at the University of Virginia, she won the Raven Award for her outstanding scholarship and contribution to university life, as well as the Lewis Hammond Award for her philosophy thesis. She specializes in metaphysics and ethics, working on papers devoted to theories of possibility and the moral permissibility of love. 

Maria Cecire. AB (Hons) University of Chicago.  A Rhodes Scholar from Virginia, Maria studies the intersections of medieval literature and modern children’s fantasy through Oxford’s Faculty of English and as a member of Keble College, Oxford University. Past experiences include teaching English in Japan, directing and shooting a documentary film in Zambia about math and science teachers, and positions in the education and performance programs at two major Chicago art museums. Maria plays soccer for Keble College, is the Social Secretary for Keble College’s graduate student body, and took up pole vaulting this year with Oxford University’s athletics team.

Amal Isaiah. MB BS University of Bangalore, India. A Rhodes Scholar, Amal is a doctoral student at St John’s College, Oxford University, where his DPhil concerns cochlear implants and neural prostheses that restore hearing to the deaf. He attended medical school as an elected National Biotechnology Scholar and National Merit Scholar and developed a passion for physiology, especially involving the central nervous system. He has won prizes in ENT, Surgery, Psychiatry and Dermatology, including the Cadila Health Care Prize in General Surgery and the Bactroban Prize in Dermatology. In his native India, he was involved in drafting a national policy for the rehabilitation of deaf children. He is also an accomplished violinist and keen cricketer.

James Dray. BA (Hons) University of Natal, South Africa. A Cecil Renaud Scholar at Mansfield College, Oxford University, James graduated summa cum laude from the University of Natal, and was awarded the South African Association of Political Studies Award for the top South African Political Science graduate in 2005. He is an experienced debater and has coached in South Africa, the UK, Botswana, Japan and the Philippines. He reached the Finals of the World Universities Debating Championships in 2007.  Having completed his MPhil in Politics, James takes up a Commonwealth Scholarship to pursue doctoral research at Oxford University.