Distinguished Alumni Achievement Awards

5 College of Pharmacy Christopher G. Lynch , Pharm.D. (’97), is a commander (retired) in the U.S. Navy Medical Service Corps. Lynch enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1986 at age 17 and attended basic training and Radioman-School at the U.S. Naval Training Center in San Diego, California. Upon completion, he entered the U.S. Naval Reserves serving aboard the USS Holland and at the Naval Weapons Station in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1993, Lynch was selected for the Navy’s Health Services Collegiate Program and enrolled at NSU’s College of Pharmacy. After graduation, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Medical Service Corps. His first assignment as a pharmacy officer was at the Naval Hospital in Pensacola, Florida, where he served in a multitude of clinical and leadership roles, including as a clinical pharmacist and faculty member for the family medicine physician residency program. In 2005, Lynch was selected for the Navy’s Duty Under Instruction Program, and he earned an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida. Among his many career assignments, Lynch was deployed aboard the hospital ship USNS Comfort in support of the Partnership for the Americas humanitarian and medical training mission to 12 countries in central and South America. There, he served as the head of pharmacy services for a combined military, civilian, and international team that dispensed more than 160,000 prescriptions. Lynch was promoted to commander and served as the inaugural director of the joint-military pharmacy training programs at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. After finishing extensive tours in military academia, Lynch was assigned to the U.S. Naval Hospital Joint Medical Group in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he served as the director of clinical support services. His final tour of duty was as the associate director of pharmacy services at Naval Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. Among his many awards, Lynch is the recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation and Achievement medals, and the Naval Reserve Meritorious Service Medal. College of Psychology Wendy Lader , Ph.D. (M.S. ’82, Ph.D. ’84), is CEO of Mending Fences, a residential dual-diagnosis program in Ocala, Florida. An internationally recognized expert on the treatment of self-injury and a founding member of the International Society for the Study of Self-Injury, Lader lectures extensively on the subject and cofounded the Self-Injury Foundation. She is also cofounder and clinical director of the S.A.F.E. (Self Abuse Finally Ends) Alternatives ® Program. Lader’s work with S.A.F.E. has been featured on a variety of television programs and networks, including Dateline NBC , 20/20 , ABC World News Tonight , CNN, Good Morning America , The Today Show , Dr. Drew , and CAPA TV (Paris). In addition, she is frequently cited as an expert by the media, including in The New York Times Magazine , The Chicago Tribune , Globe and Mail , Counseling Today , Teen People , Newsweek , Time , U.S. News & World Report , and Marie Claire (Paris). Lader coauthored the books Bodily Harm: The Breakthrough Healing Program for Self-Injurers and Self Injury: A Manual for School Professionals . She served as the expert for a training video on recognizing self-injury for the American Psychological Association and an educational webinar for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Her earlier work includes serving as the director of Chicago’s Women’s Program for the Treatment of Self-Injury at Hartgrove Hospital as well as the Girl’s Program at Mercy Hospital, a therapist at NSU’s Children’s Assessment and Treatment Center, and a volunteer crisis counselor for the Sexual Assault Treatment Center in Fort Lauderdale. Beyond her professional contributions, Lader is a board member of Parents for Peace. Lader has received numerous honors and recognitions, including Outstanding Volunteer of the Year for Loop YWCA, a stipend from the Children’s Assessment and Treatment Center, and placement in the Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.