Annie Griebie, a 2021 alumna of the College of Saint Benedict, won the Minnesota Psychological Association’s 2021 Donald G. Paterson Undergraduate Award in Psychology.

Griebie is the third CSB student to win the award in the 60-year history of this honor, bestowed on “the outstanding college senior planning a career in psychology.” Previous winners from CSB were Samantha Heintzelman in 2009 and Alexandra Lenzen in 2012.

The award will be presented at the association’s Friday Forum Oct. 1.

The psychology department of every college and university in Minnesota can nominate one outstanding senior psychology major for the Paterson Award, which was named after a professor who was a major figure in the development of the psychology department at the University of Minnesota. Nominees are evaluated based on their talent, interest and potential in the field of psychology.

The purpose of this $350 award is to recognize and encourage high achievement in psychology at the undergraduate level. Nominations of students whose work has been directed at applied problems and field experience, in addition to students whose work has been mainly laboratory-theoretical in nature are welcome.

Griebie, a psychology major with a minor in biology, graduated egregia cum laude with a 4.00 grade-point average. She was on the Dean’s List all four years and was inducted as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society at CSB and Saint John’s University. She also received the CSB Trustee’s Scholarship from 2017-21.

She defended her honors thesis, “The Influence of Personality on Presidential Leadership Style (With a Case Study of Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States),” in April 2021. This study was selected by the CSB/SJU Office of Undergraduate Research as a spotlight presentation at the spring 2021 Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day.

Griebie co-presented a paper with Aubrey Immelman, associate professor of psychology, on “The Personality Profile and Leadership Style of U.S. President Donald J. Trump in Office” at the 2020 Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology, and on “The Personality Profile and Leadership Style of U.S. President Joe Biden” at the 2021 meeting.

In addition to her academic accomplishments, Griebie also was a four-year member and one-year captain of the CSB Dance Team. She also served her community as a volunteer counselor at various Minnesota camps for individuals with a variety of chronic health conditions as well as volunteering at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota.

Griebe is currently a first-year graduate student in the Industrial/Organizational Psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Minnesota.