Roy Alton Young
Acting President, 1969-1970
Acting President Roy A. Young,
1970.
Described in the 1970 Beaver as "renowned, persuasive, and
respected", Young dealt sensitively with issues of student unrest
by turning "dissent into constructive activity". When classes were
canceled for one day in May 1970 following the Kent State
shootings, more than 40 discussion groups involving faculty, ROTC
representatives, student leaders, and activists were held. [OSU
Archives P3:4264]
Young, Professor of Plant Pathology, was appointed in 1966 as the
University's first Dean of Research with responsibility for
campus-wide research coordination. He served as Acting President
for one year until the arrival of MacVicar in July 1970, when he
resumed responsibility for research coordination as Vice President
for Research and Graduate Studies, a position he held until
1976.
Young was born and spent his childhood and youth in New Mexico
where he earned a B.S. degree in Biology from New Mexico State
University in 1941. He completed his M.S. degree in plant
pathology at Iowa State University one year later and after 3 years
of service in the U.S. Navy completed his Ph.D. at Iowa State in
1948.
He came to Oregon State University in 1948 as Assistant Professor
of Plant Pathology and became head of the Botany and Plant
Pathology Department in 1958.
Young with colleagues in campus greenhouse,
1961. Roy A. Young (left) and John A. Milbrath (right),
professors of plant pathology, explain their research to F.E.
Price, Dean of the School of Agriculture and Director of the
Agricultural Experiment Station. [OSU Archives
P98:1200]
In 1976, Young left OSU to become Chancellor of the University of
Nebraska at Lincoln and subsequently served as President of the
Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell University.
He returned to Oregon State University and Corvallis in 1986 and
remains active in scientific and civic affairs as Professor
Emeritus.
Roy A. Young and Robert W. MacVicar, 1970.
Dr. Young passed on the reins of the University to new President
Robert MacVicar on July first at the entrance to Bexell Hall, where
the President's office was located at that time. [OSU Archives
Roy A. Young Papers]
Where to Find More Information about Roy Young
President's Office Records
(RG 13)
Roy A. Young Papers
Botany and Plant Pathology Department Records (RG 54)
Memorabilia Collection - Young, Roy A.
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