Michael Young Honored by New Pittsburgh Courier

Michael Young, associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion for Carnegie Mellon University's Mellon College of Science has been named to the 2024 Men of Excellence Awards by the New Pittsburgh Courier. The award celebrates African American men from the Greater Pittsburgh area, who are positively impacting the community and working diligently to make a difference.

Young will be one of 50 men honored at the 2024 Men of Excellence Awards & Induction Ceremony, which will be from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 13, at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown Hotel.

"I am truly humbled and grateful for this recognition," Young said. "It reflects the collective effort of the MCS team and the support that I receive from the CMU community."

Young is an associate professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences. His research is in discrete mathematics, specifically graph theory, combinatorics and applications to combinatorial matrix theory.

Throughout his career, Young has started a number of nationwide initiatives and held several leadership roles geared towards addressing race and inequity in education. He founded the networking organization the Center for Minorities in the Mathematical Sciences and the Mathematics Enrichment through Diversity and Learning (MEDAL) Organization. MEDAL provides diversity training and professional development to teachers and faculty as well as tutoring and mentoring services through the United Negro College Fund's STEM Scholar Program.

In partnership with the National Science Foundation and other universities, he helped create the ASCEND Mentor Network. ASCEND helps graduates from underrepresented backgrounds find postdoctoral fellowships, and the mentor network provides access to guidance from professors working in their fields.

At Carnegie Mellon, he manages multiple programs that promote diversity in the sciences. He oversees the Mellon College of Science Summer Scholars Program, which allows undergraduates from colleges across the country to spend a summer conducting research and receiving mentorship from professors and graduate students.

Under his leadership, he helped start the Data Analytics for Science Immersion Experience (DASIE), which has been running since 2022. DASIE is a joint venture between Carnegie Mellon, Dow, PPG and Accenture that allows students from underrepresented background to learn more about data analytics and to connect with experts in the field.

Along with being a leader in these key programs, he also serves as a mentor for Tartan Scholars, a Carnegie Mellon program designed to provide guidance and resources to students from limited resource backgrounds.

Young earned his Ph.D. in mathematical sciences in 2008 at Carnegie Mellon and served as an instructor in Carnegie Mellon's Summer Undergraduate Applied Mathematics Institute, which is part of the summer scholars program, as well as the precollege program Computer Science Scholars and the undergraduate Summer Academy for Math and Sciences. Prior to joining Carnegie Mellon as faculty, he worked as an associate professor of mathematics at Iowa State University.