Two Bridgewater College seniors—Eli Lenig and Kynah Walston— were the recipients of the Donald R. Witters Psychology Awards for 2021.
The psychology awards are named in honor of Dr. Donald R. Witters, who retired at the end of the 2005-2006 academic year as professor of psychology, emeritus. He joined the Bridgewater College faculty in 1968 as a professor of psychology and served as chair of the department from 1990 to 1996.
Lenig, the son of Kevin Lenig and Richie and Jamie Arnold of Port Royal, Pa., is a psychology major from Mifflintown, Pa. He has been involved in theater, including as a member of Pinion Players, a student-run theater organization. Lenig also is a member of the Psi Chi Honor Society, an international honor society in psychology; the Alpha Chi Honor Society, a national college scholarship honor society; and the Philomathes Honor Society, a group that recognizes Bridgewater College students, faculty members and alumni who have achieved unusual distinction in the pursuit of knowledge.
After graduation, Lenig plans to attend an international master’s program in clinical psychology in the spring.
Walston, a psychology major from Fairfield, Pa., is a member of the Psi Chi Honor Society and Philomathes Society, as well as tutors classes in mathematics, neuroscience and psychological science.
Walston previously was awarded a Dr. John M. Martin Summer Science Research Institute grant to complete intensive independent research projects under the mentorship of Dr. Curtis Bradley, assistant professor of psychology. The research projects, titled “Saccharine Potentiates Oral Ethanol Self-Administration in Male C57BL/6J Mice” and “Examining the Effects of Caffeine and Saccharine on Acute Ethanol Intake in Male C57BL/6J Mice,” were presented at the 2021 ASPIRE conference—a celebration of the arts, scholarship, performance, innovation and research excellence.
Currently, Walston is pursuing a doctorate at East Tennessee State University in experimental psychology with a primary focus on behavioral neuroscience and psychopharmacology. Walston recently accepted a graduate assistantship role at ETSU where she will continue to teach undergraduate classes while on her path to becoming a psychological researcher.
