POTSDAM -- Zoe Loveless of Hannawa Falls is the first recipient of a new scholarship at SUNY Potsdam for undergraduates with promising futures in the arts and sciences.

One of the newest members of the Potsdam College Foundation Board of Trustees, retired Systems Made Simple CEO Ronald Fishbeck, a 1980 graduate, and his wife, Teresa, recently established their second scholarship at the college, providing significant financial assistance toward the cost of attendance (approximately the full cost of tuition and fees) to outstanding SUNY Potsdam students. This new fund provides one of the largest single undergraduate scholarship awards offered by the Potsdam College Foundation.

Loveless is a sophomore majoring in theater and dance.

"We hope to help students who might not have the financial wherewithal to be able to come to Potsdam, to give them an opportunity to do just that," Ron Fishbeck said.

This endowment, totaling half a million dollars, will support four SUNY Potsdam students a year when it is fully implemented. The award amount for each student will be $8,000, which almost fully covers the cost of tuition and fees for in-state students, or goes a long way toward supporting room and board costs for students whose tuition is funded through other programs.

The Fishbeck Foundation Scholarship will be awarded each year to a rising sophomore who shows great promise of being successful in his or her chosen field, and who is majoring in one of 15 eligible majors, including: art education, art history, studio art, dance, graphic design and new media, theatre, theatre education, visual arts, computer science, mathematics, biochemistry, biology, chemistry, geology and physics. The scholarship is renewable, so recipients will be able to receive the support for their sophomore, junior and senior years at SUNY Potsdam, as long as they maintain eligibility.

This is the Fishbecks' second scholarship at SUNY Potsdam. They established the Ronald and Teresa Fishbeck Computer Science Scholarship in 2012, which supports computer science students who are completing internships in their field.