2021 Laurel Ridge graduate Jeff Sinclair has swapped his green beret for a white coat.
The 15-year U.S. Army veteran is in his first semester at SU’s Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy. He served in various units, including the Iowa Army National Guard and the 82nd Airborne Division, and was a Special Forces Green Beret. Sinclair deployed twice to both Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as to other challenging environments during his military career. He concluded his service as a sergeant first class in 2017.
Wanting to stay close to home to pursue his post-secondary education after his Army career, Sinclair turned to Laurel Ridge and was impressed with the caliber of the faculty.
“Professor [Sam] Dillender, my chemistry professor was amazing,” Sinclair said. “Physics Professor Ray Rogers is also amazing. I had all my engineering classes with Professor Bill Lewis. He was very thorough in the way he teaches, very personable. Laurel Ridge blows four-year universities out of the water. I really like the small class sizes.”
Jeff Sinclair on tour in Afghanistan.
He graduated in spring 2021 with his engineering degree, and even though he was transferring into the University of North Dakota’s online bachelor’s degree program in chemical engineering, he continued to take a few more classes at Laurel Ridge afterwards because he enjoyed them so much. Sinclair then decided to transfer to Shenandoah University to pursue his bachelor’s degree in chemistry with a minor in biology. He graduated in spring 2025.
At Laurel Ridge, Sinclair received the Jeffery L. Ross Memorial Endowed Scholarship. He also appreciated having the Veterans Center on campus, where student veterans can do free printing, have a cup of coffee, receive advising and share fellowship.
Sinclair expects to earn his doctor of pharmacy degree in 2029.
“I wanted to be part of the healthcare profession, but I never felt drawn to being a medical doctor or a dentist,” said Sinclair. “I just like the sciences, especially chemistry.”
He likens this first semester of pharmacy school to “drinking from a fire hose.”
“It’s going well,” said Sinclair. “It’s very fast-paced, lot of information, tremendous amount of studying.”
His time spent at Laurel Ridge “absolutely” prepared him well for his future studies.
“The foundation Laurel Ridge had given me made me feel I would be successful and competent coming into Shenandoah University,” Sinclair said. “I didn’t feel overwhelmed because I knew that my foundation was solid.”
Laurel Ridge Community College was known as Lord Fairfax Community College until June 2022. For consistency purposes, the college will be referenced as Laurel Ridge going forward.