Faculty, staff and alumni gathered on Wednesday, Sept. 28, for a reception to help endow the Dr. Gerald W. Lynch Memorial Scholarship 

Created in memory of John Jay’s third president, who died in 2013, the scholarship provides financial support to exemplary doctoral students who have a demonstrated interest in the areas of human dignity, human rights, social justice, and the police.

The reception, which took place on the stage of the Gerald W. Lynch Theater, was the start of an effort to raise $100,000 to endow the scholarship over three years. With Lynch’s family in attendance, along with many members of the John Jay community from the late president’s 28-year tenure, the event raised over half the goal, topping the $53,000 mark.

A special video was created to celebrate Lynch and the scholarship. In it, current President Jeremy Travis says of his predecessor, “First and foremost, Gerry Lynch was committed to the students at John Jay. And more particularly, he was the prime mover in the creation of our doctoral programs in psychology and criminal justice, which really put John Jay more in the lead as a research-oriented academic institution. So, to have a scholarship that allows students, particularly those at the Ph.D. level, to pursue their interests is a fitting tribute to President Lynch.”

To date, there have been two Lynch Scholars, Jungwon Lee and David Topel, both of whom spoke in glowing terms about what the scholarship has meant to their studies and research.

Click here to support the Gerald W. Lynch Memorial Scholarship. Additional photos of the event are online.