Charles E. Young
President Emeritus, University of Florida and Chancellor Emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles
Charles E. Young has served as chief executive of two of the nation’s top research universities for more than three decades. He returns to the Commission after nearly two years in the Persian Gulf, where he served as president of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development.
From his appointment as chancellor of UCLA in 1968 through his tenure as president of the University of Florida until 2004, Young has led the development of one regional academic campus into a nationally recognized university and has shepherded another through an unprecedented reorganization of its governing structure.
At UCLA, Young presided over an organization that is one of the largest employers in Southern California. He directed the rapid growth of UCLA – which now educates more students than any other California college, public or private – toward its present distinction as one of the country’s most comprehensive and dynamic university campuses.
Young began his service at the University of Florida in November 1999 after 29 years of experience as the chancellor of UCLA. During his presidency at the University of Florida, Young established for the university new directions and priorities more suitable for a leading institution of the 21st century.
Young has served as chairman of the prestigious Association of American Universities, of which both UCLA and the University of Florida are members, as well as being a commission member of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. He has been elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Award for Inter-American University Cooperation, the International Educational Leadership Award, the Albert Schweitzer Leadership Award, and the American Council on Education’s Distinguished Service Award for Lifetime Achievement.
With an unparalleled legacy of longevity and success spanning 33 years with two major research institutions, Charles Young remains one of the most innovative and dynamic forces in modern higher education.
A veteran of the United States Air Force, Young received his bachelor’s degree cum laude from the University of California at Riverside in 1955, and his master’s degree (1957) and Ph.D. (1960) from UCLA.
Photo
Download high resolution photo here
