Whether you went to college in the 1960s or 2020s, opportunities for hands-on learning and the mentorship of your professors are often keys to future success. Dr. Sam Zigler ’68 and Tony Lucy ’27 can both attest to this from a vantage point many decades apart.
For Zigler, whose parents, Jacob Zigler ’39 and Leah Flora Zigler ’39, and sister, Jane Zigler Fulk ’69, also graduated from Bridgewater College, attending BC was a family tradition. He most remembers enjoying his science classes, whether poring over microscopes in Bowman Hall or exploring the natural world and “turning over rocks in the creek with Doc Jopson.”
Professor of Biology Dr. Harry G.M. Jopson also facilitated a position for Zigler as a research assistant in a marine biology laboratory at Duke University during his first year of graduate school. But Zigler’s study was interrupted when his name was called in a Vietnam War draft lottery. A conscientious objector, Zigler needed to find approved alternative service. He found a job at Duke University Hospital as a lab technician, working with someone who specialized in cataracts and the lens of the eye.
After his service concluded, Zigler switched the focus of his study from marine biology to the human eye, leading him to a 30-year career with the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Zigler, who has given to the College for 49 consecutive years to date, says he’s seen the positive impact that research experiences have had on the numerous students he encountered during his career who participated in summer internships and volunteer opportunities.
He gives to The Research Experience @ Bridgewater (TREB) so Bridgewater students can have that experience too, no matter what field they want to pursue. Not only is it important for the student’s resume, but it’s also how “you can discover what you want to do for the rest of your life,” he explains.
A double major in art and game design, Lucy is among the students who have benefited from TREB, which awards funding to student-faculty pairs for summer research projects in any subject area.
Associate Professor of English Dr. Sam Hamilton reached out to Lucy about partnering with him on a summer 2025 project—recreating the classic board game Parcheesi as a computer game.
Lucy says his TREB project gave him critical experience in problem-solving. “I learned how to feel frustration, take a step back and continue learning.”
The first student to declare game design as a major when the program launched during the spring semester of his first year, Lucy is now creating concept character art in his art major and using that as a basis for the 3D models he’s sculpting for a future video game. Lucy hopes to develop and complete a 10-hour action-adventure video game for his major capstone project.
He says he’s “happy and blessed to have these opportunities” and has embraced this chance to explore modern game design, which includes art and storytelling alongside the more technical aspects.
Zigler is glad current Bridgewater students have so many opportunities for direct interaction with faculty. “That kind of hands-on experience is invaluable in any field.”
– Olivia Shifflett
12/1/25
