May 12, 2004
Utah Turns to GW for New President
Law School Dean Michael Young Selected as Utahs
14th President
Michael Young, dean of GWs Law School since 1998, was selected
as the 14th president of the University of Utah by a unanimous vote of
the State Board of Regents on April 29. Young, this summer, will begin
his presidency of the states flagship university located at the
foothills of Salt Lake City with 28,000 students, 2,750 faculty members
and 11,500 staff personnel.
It is a wonderful opportunity to be asked to come to the University
of Utah, which has a wonderful reputation in a number of areas,
Young said. I look forward to working with the excellent administrators,
faculty and staff of the university, getting to know the students and
becoming part of the larger Utah community.
Young and his family have ties to the state he attended Brigham
Young University and his wife hails from Orem. Suzan and I have
loved Utah for a very long time, and to be able to return to this state
for this purpose is very gratifying.
As dean of GWs Law School, Young was instrumental in major renovations
of school facilities, an increase in the mean GPA and LSAT scores of students,
strengthening the schools profile of minority students and substantial
gains in the amount and availability of research grants. Young also led
the charge to create a number of areas of excellence recognized internationally,
including the Sloan Program in Corporate Responsibility and Accountability,
and the Joint Masters Degree Program in International Intellectual
Property.
Mike Young has been a brilliant dean and inevitably talent draws
attention to itself, and others come and try to steal your people,
said University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg. We, as an institution,
are interested in keeping our best people here, but we dont discourage
professional growth. We thank Mike for guiding GWs Law School to
new heights, and we wish him great success as president of the University
of Utah. He goes with our blessing and our full support.
Young is currently serving his second term as chair of the US Commission
on International Religious Freedom, a federal advisory commission created
by Congress in 1998 to advise the President, the secretary of state, the
national security adviser and the Congress on ways in which the United
States can more effectively deploy its foreign policy to advance the cause
of religious liberties. Young brings considerable academic experience,
including more than 25 years as a faculty member and significant government
experience as a former Department of State official. Prior to GW, Young
was on the faculty of Columbia University.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu
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Related Links
Utah
News Release
Young's
Message to the GW Community
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