Former UMaine President H. Edwin Young: 1917-2012

Former University of Maine President Hugh Edwin Young died Jan. 2 in Madison, Wisc. He was 94. Young, a UMaine alumnus, served as president from Oct. 1, 1965 – June 30, 1968. The Newfoundland native earned his undergraduate degree in education in 1940 and a master’s in economics in 1942 from UMaine, and a doctorate in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1950. He also was awarded an honorary doctorate from UMaine in 1963. Young began his career teaching at UMaine prior to relocating to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he taught economics, served as department chair and eventually was named Dean of the College of Letters and Science. His first presidential appointment was at UMaine in 1965, where he served through the some of the more controversial years of the Vietnam War and related student protests on campus. In July 1968, Young returned to the University of Wisconsin to teach and serve as vice president. Two months later, he was appointed chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, leading that campus through the conclusion of the tumultuous war years. In 1977, he was named president of the University of Wisconsin System, retiring in 1987. According to an obituary released by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Young’s wife, Phyllis, also a UMaine graduate, passed away in 1993. He is survived by five children.

“Edwin Young began his distinguished career as a labor economist at the University of Maine,” says University of Maine President Paul Ferguson. “As UMaine’s 10th president, he brought a commitment to academic excellence and stable leadership in an era of campus unrest. The thoughts of the UMaine community are with his family.”

Contact:  Ron Lisnet (207)581-3779