Alumni Hall of Fame
Academic / Professional Achievement (2023)

Paul R. Young was a member of the St. Marys Memorial High Class of 1954. He was named a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at Antioch College graduating in 1959 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics. He earned a Doctorate in Mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1963.

Dr. Young held post-doctoral positions at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and Stanford University in Stanford, California, from 1963 – 1966. In 1967, he joined the faculty of Purdue University’s new department of Computer Science where he taught for 17 years. This was the first academic Computer Science Department in the United States. Dr. Young served as Professor of Mathematics at the University of New Mexico from 1978-1979. In 1983, Young was named the Chair of the University of Washington’s Department of Computer Science and served in that position until 1988. The University of Washington stated that, “During his tenure, Young advanced UW’s reputation as a national leader in Computer Science education and research, advocated for more resources to bring the best and brightest faculty to Seattle, and initiated conversations around the creation of a permanent, purpose-built home for the program.” He remained on the faculty at the University of Washington for another 10 years as Associate Dean of Research, Facility, and External Affairs in the College of Engineering; and was Professor Emeritus. In his career, Dr. Young served as a Visiting Professor at both the University of California – Berkley and the University of Wisconsin.

In 1994, Dr. Young was named the Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation’s Computer and Information Science and Engineering. He was also active in the Computing Research Association from 1983-1991 and served as Chair of the Board of Directors during its formative years from 1989-1991. “Dr. Young helped the computing research field develop a presence in science and technology policy making.” (1996 Computing Research Association’s Distinguished Service Award)

Dr. Young also served as the vice chair of the National Science and Technology Council’s Committee on Information and Communications, which was responsible for developing research programs and overseeing research in computing, information, and communications across all federal agencies, including the congressionally mandated High-Performance Computing and Communications Program.

In 1996, Dr. Young was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the Computing Research Association for his, “Numerous and significant contributions to the computing research community.”

He retired from the University of Washington in 1998 when he and his wife, Deborah Joseph, settled at their Lime Creek Farm in Wisconsin. There, Young restored more than 40 acres of prairie habitat and trained performance Labrador Retrievers, including Wisconsin’s first Grand Master Pointing Retriever. Dr. Young passed away in 2019.

Young was a gifted computer scientist, mathematician, and a talented educator and researcher. His expertise ranged from, “theoretical computer science, including computational complexity, algorithmic theory, formal language theory, and connections with mathematical logic.” (Remembering Paul Young (1936-2019, washington.edu) The University of Washington credited Dr. Young with raising the profile of its Computer Science department. He published more than 80 research papers and books, including one of the first books that covered both computability and complexity: “An Introduction to the General Theory of Algorithms,” with Michael Machtey, PhD. He taught subjects ranging from basic introduction to Computer Science to the most advanced theoretical research topics, reaching thousands of undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. Young is a founding figure in the establishment and growth of the discipline of Computer Science in the United States.

For his outstanding academic excellence and contributions to the computing research field over four decades; his skills as a Professor to thousands of students; his leadership on the national level in science and technology policy making; and for his expertise in complex mathematical and algorithmic theory and application, the St. Marys Memorial High School Alumni Foundation inducts Dr. Paul R. Young into the St. Marys Memorial High School Alumni Foundation’s Hall of Fame for Academic and Professional Achievement.