David Young
David A. Young was appointed Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Arizona State University (ASU) December 22, 2006. He also is a tenured professor of plant biology in ASU’s School of Life Sciences, an academic unit in College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Previously, Young served as ASU Vice President and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He is credited with a redesign and transformation of the college resulting in the creation of eight new transdisciplinary schools, more than 20 new or refocused research centers, several major institutes to promote transdisciplinary research and an expansive Learning Communities Institute to provide enhanced learning experiences for undergraduate students.
In his role as Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Young works collaboratively across all of ASU’s campuses to ensure that academic programs are coordinated and that faculty expertise is being effectively used. He also continues in a leadership role with the development of the University of Arizona College of Medicine Phoenix program in partnership with Arizona State University. Young has represented ASU on an academic task force charged with designing the curriculum for the Phoenix medical program and has been involved since the beginning in this unprecedented collaboration. His leadership in the development of the Phoenix medical campus earned him an MVP (most valuable player) award at the grand opening celebration.
Prior to coming to ASU, Young was Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. His previous administrative positions include Provost at Colorado State University, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Oklahoma and Director of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.
Young has been a tenured faculty member in botany at Cornell University, where he directed the L.H. Bailey Hortorium and served as Associate Dean of the Graduate School. He has held other faculty appointments at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Union College in Schenectady, N.Y.
Young holds a Ph.D. in botany from the Claremont Graduate University-Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in biology from California State University, Fullerton. A native of Pomona, Calif., Young is the author of two books, four book chapters and more than 50 published papers, technical reports and abstracts.