Roy Alton Young, a professor of plant pathology, was appointed in 1966 as Oregon State University's dean of research with responsibility for campus-wide research coordination. He served as the university's acting president for one year until the arrival of Robert MacVicar in July 1970, at which time he resumed his research coordination duties as the vice president for research and graduate studies, a position he held until 1976.
Roy A. Young was born on March 1, 1921 in McAlister, New Mexico. He spent his childhood and youth in New Mexico, where he also earned a B.S. in biology from New Mexico State University (1941). He completed his M.S. in plant pathology at Iowa State University in 1942 and after three years of service in the U.S. Navy, completed his Ph.D. in 1948.
Young came to Oregon State University in 1948 as an assistant professor of plant pathology and, in 1958, was promoted to head of the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology. He served in this position for eight years prior to becoming the acting president of the university.
In 1976 Young left OSU for a position as chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and subsequently served as the president of the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell University. He eventually returned to OSU and Corvallis in 1986, remaining active in science and civic affairs as professor emeritus. Young passed away on April 19, 2013 at the age of 92.
Related Resources: President's Office Records, Roy A. Young Papers, Botany and Plant Pathology Department Records, Memorabilia Collection.