Amanda Bunting, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Kentucky, is one of 100 doctoral students in the U. S. and Canada selected to receive a $15,000 Scholar Award from the P.E.O. Sisterhood. She was sponsored by Chapter AO KY of Lexington.

Bunting is from Frederick, Maryland. She received a bachelor's degree from Hood College in 2009 and a master's degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2014. At UK, she has received a Presidential Fellowship, the University of Kentucky Association of Emeriti Faculty Endowed Faculty Fellowship Award and is currently supported as a predoctoral scholar on a NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse) T32 training grant. Bunting is dedicated to research of employment, health and treatment outcomes among substance using individuals returning to society from prison.

"It is an honor to be recognized as a P.E.O. Scholar, and I am thankful for the organization's dedication to the success of women," Bunting said. "As someone who has dedicated my life’s pursuits to individuals who are vulnerable and overlooked in our society, I am grateful to have the support of this award to further my career."

The P.E.O. Scholar Awards (PSA) were established in 1991 to provide substantial merit-based awards for women of the United States and Canada who are pursuing a doctoral-level degree at an accredited college or university. Scholar Awards recipients are a select group of women chosen for their high level of academic achievement and their potential for having a positive impact on society.

The P.E.O. Sisterhood, founded Jan. 21, 1869, at Iowa Wesleyan College, in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, is a philanthropic educational organization dedicated to supporting higher education for women. There are approximately 6,000 local chapters in the United States and Canada with nearly a quarter of a million active members.