The Phi Kappa Phi Love of Learning Award will help the young Elon University alumna as she begins her graduate studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
By Sarah Mulnick ’17
A national academic honor society this summer recognized Ursula Saelzler ’13 with an award to help cover educational expenses as she begins doctoral studies in cognitive psychology.
The Phi Kappa Phi Love of Learning Award is given each year to 147 active members who have already completed undergraduate programs. The award funds post-baccalaureate studies or career development.
Saelzler, a psychology major at Elon and one of 1,400 applicants for the most recent awards, said she will use the grant to cover graduate school fees at the Georgia Institute of Technology where she plans to research the effects of cortisol on brain structure, as well as the influence of aging on spatial cognition.
Saelzler was an active undergraduate researcher. She took part in the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience and worked with Associate Professor Amy Overman to examine factors influencing older adults’ ability to memorize face-name pairs. The native of Charlotte, N.C., also received a Rawls Undergraduate Research Scholarship during her Elon studies.
This is the second year in a row that an Elon University alumnus received Phi Kappa Phi’s Love of Leaning Award. Darris Means ‘05, associate director of the Elon Academy and a doctoral candidate at North Carolina State University, was an award recipient in 2012.
Professor Kathy Lyday in the Department of English is currently president of the Elon chapter. For more information, visit http://org.elon.edu/phikappaphi/