On Saturday, March 5, four men were honored with the most prestigious award given by Auburn University. This award is known as the “Lifetime Achievement Award.” The Auburn Alumni Association takes nominations and votes on whom they believe to be the most deserving of this award and title. It is given to those people who have not only achieved much during their lifetime, but have affected others in a way that will never be forgotten.


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The four recipients of this award were Dr. Neil Christopher, Ken Mattingly, Forrest McCartney and Wayne T. Smith. These men were honored for different reasons, but as a whole they represent something similar. They represent the qualities that Auburn University hopes for its students to achieve.

Dr. Jay Gogue, president of Auburn University, spoke at the ceremony. He stated, “I am beyond proud to call these recipients ‘Auburn men’. They have exceeded all expectations and are being rewarded for that tonight.”

Dr. Neil Christopher is a veteran of the Vietnam War and received a Bronze Star during that time for meritorious service. His family grew up practicing medicine, by which he stays true. Among his efforts, Christopher helped lobby for state legislation, which established the Alabama Family Practice Rural Health Board in 1990. Christopher was also inducted into the Alabama Health Care Hall of Fame on behalf of his service and loyalty to rural medicine.

Another man honored was Ken Mattingly on behalf of his achievements with NASA. Mattingly was a member of the Apollo 13 crew, in which he helped return the spaceship to safety after an in-flight explosion. Mattingly also served as the command-module pilot on Apollo 16, and is a recipient of the Ambassador of Exploration Award given by NASA along with being a member of the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Other men honored for this award were Forrest McCartney and Wayne T. Smith.

McCartney is honored on his achievements with NASA as well. He graduated from Auburn with a degree in electrical engineering and received a master’s in nuclear engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. McCartney is a member of the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame, and was director of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida after the explosion of the Challenger in 1986.

Smith serves as chairman, president and CEO of Community Health Systems Inc., which is the largest publicly traded hospital company in the United States. He decided to continue working in the health care industry after being discharged from the Army where he served in military hospitals and got his master’s in health care administration. Smith has been named “100 Most Powerful People” in his industry by Modern Healthcare magazine and is also known as the top health care CEO by Institutional Investor.

While many families and friends gathered together during the weekend in celebration of this outstanding achievement, Christopher’s family hosted a brunch the morning before the ceremony. Food was catered and many people showed up in support of Christopher during this special time.

When asked about what Auburn means to him, Christopher responded, “It’s really a genetic thing… my love for Auburn. My father came out of the woods of Choctaw County in 1917 and was the founder of Auburn Agriculture Experiment Station System. I was actually born in the Sand Mountain Experiment Station.”

“It just progressed from that,” said Christopher. “Hearing about Auburn and knowing about Auburn as a child, attending school at Auburn, and then continuing my involvement with the Alumni Association and with anything Auburn in Marshall County, or in Guntersville where I live.”

“Whether it’s working with the local club, working on scholarships, or recruiting students or anyway I can facilitate anything for Auburn, that’s what I try to do,” Christopher said.