LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ -- Fifty-three outstanding Rider University students have been distinguished as Andrew J. Rider Scholars, the highest academic honor an undergraduate can achieve at Rider.

The award, which is named for the founder and first president of the institution, honors the four seniors, three juniors, and three sophomores with the highest grade-point averages in each of Rider's five academic colleges and schools (this year, there was a tie among several students, resulting in a higher number of Scholars). The selections are based upon students' academic records established by the end of the previous academic year.

Organized by academic unit, the 1998 Andrew J. Rider Scholars are as follows (a single [*] denotes a second-year scholar; a pair [**] denotes a third-year scholar):

 College of Business Administration

 College of Liberal Arts, Education, and Sciences -- School of Education

 College of Liberal Arts, Education, and Sciences -- School of Liberal Arts

 College of Continuing Studies

 Westminster Choir College

Each student being honored will receive a certificate from President J. Barton Luedeke during an 11 a.m. ceremony on Saturday, November 7 in the Student Center Theater. The presentation is part of the annual Founder's Day celebration which marks the establishment of Rider University in 1865. Dr. Barry Seldes, professor of political science, will give the faculty address; Dominique Prizgint, a senior accounting and computer information systems double-major from Wayside, NJ, will deliver the student address.

Rider University is an independent, coeducational, nonsectarian institution with a 353-acre main campus in Lawrenceville, New Jersey and a 23-acre campus in Princeton, New Jersey. The University offers 58 undergraduate programs and 17 graduate programs in the Colleges of Business Administration; Liberal Arts, Education, and Sciences; Continuing Studies; and Westminster Choir College. Ninety-three percent of the faculty hold doctoral or other appropriate advanced degrees.