LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ -- Frances M. Pustizzi, a senior marine sciences major/biology minor at Rider University, has been awarded a $2,000 scholarship from the Datatel Scholars Foundation based on her outstanding academic achievement.

The Datatel Scholars Foundation, established in 1990, awards scholarships ranging from $700 to $2000 on a competitive basis to undergraduate and graduate students at colleges and universities nationwide. Last year, more than 200 organizations submitted scholarship applications, resulting in 150 grants for students. The foundation is a subsidiary of Datatel, Inc., the leading independent provider of information management systems to institutions of higher learning.

Pustizzi, a resident of Newfield, NJ, and 1995 graduate of Delsea Regional High School, currently holds a 3.94 grade point average in marine sciences. Her stellar academic work has earned her recognition as an Andrew J. Rider Scholar, the University's highest student honor. The Andrew J. Rider Scholars are the four seniors, three juniors, and three sophomores with the highest cumulative grade point average in each of the University's five colleges and schools at the end of the spring semester. Pustizzi will be recognized along with 52 other Andrew J. Rider Scholars during the campus-wide observance of Founder's Day on Saturday, November 7, at 11 a.m. in the Student Center Theater.

In addition, she has been recognized as a Rider Distinguished Scholar and New Jersey Distinguished Scholar, and was recently inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society. She is also a two-time varsity letter winner and current co-captain of the Rider women's swimming and diving team, specializing in short-distance freestyle events.

Rider University's department of geological and marine sciences offers diverse and challenging programs in geosciences, marine sciences, environmental science and geology, and oceanography that prepares all of its students for environmentally-oriented careers and graduate studies well into the next century. Departmental faculty continue to improve and refine their technological expertise as new and sophisticated instrumentation is acquired and made available for undergraduate use. The outcome of these ongoing educational improvements is the production of highly-qualified graduates, along with the continuous flow of student-initiated research in collaboration with the faculty.