Donald Young (sociologist)

Donald Ramsey Young (5 July 1898 – 17 April 1977) was an American sociologist, and the former president of each of the American Sociological Association, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the Social Science Research Council.^[1][2]

Young completed his undergraduate studies at Lafayette College in 1919.^[1] Young continued his education with a master's degree then PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, completing his doctorate in 1922.^[1] At the University of Pennsylvania, Young was taught by James P. Lichtenberger, the twelfth President of the American Sociological Association.^[2] Following his doctoral training, Young completed postdoctoral positions at Rutgers University, Princeton University, and the University of Pennsylvania.^[1] In 1922, Young published a revised version of his doctoral thesis as Motion Pictures: A Study in Social Legislation.^[2]

Young was first an assistant instructor and then eventually a full professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also became the chair of the university's sociology department.^[2] Young stayed affilitated with the University of Pennsylvania until 1947.^[2]

Young worked for the Social Science Research Council in New York, initially as a research secretary, and then eventually as executive director and President.^[2] During the Second World War, Young was a consultant to the Joint Army and Navy Committee on Welfare and Recreation from 1942 until 1945.^[2] Young was appointed as the General Director (later retitled to 'President') of the Russell Sage Foundation in 1948, where he continued working until 1968.^[2] Young worked as a professor at Rockefeller University from 1964 until 1969.^[2] Young then worked as an executive consultant for the João Pinheiro Foundation in Brazil.^[2]

In 1960, during its business meeting, the American Sociological Association passed a resolution to express "its appreciation to Dr. Donald R. Young for his outstanding dedication to American sociology in numerous capacities over the years".^[3]

Young was born in Macungie, a suburb of Allentown, Pennsylvania.^[2] Young learned Pennsylvania Dutch as a child, and would converse with his neighbors in the language.^[2] Young married Ada Wise Young (1901–1999), with whom he had two children: May Young Swagert and Robert K. Young.^[1][2][4] Young died on April 17, 1977, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, at the Sacred Heart Hospital.^[2] In an obituary published in Footnotes, the American Sociological Association's member magazine, Wilbert E. Moore (the 56th ASA president) described Young as "the wisest man I have ever known".^[2]

• Young, D. R. (1922). Motion pictures: a study in social legislation (Vol. 17). Westbrook Publishing Company.
• Young, D. R. (1932). American minority peoples: A study in racial and cultural conflicts in the United States. Harper.
• Young, D. R. (1937). Minority Peoples in the Depression. Arno Press.
• Young, D. (1955). Sociology and the practicing professions. American Sociological Review, 20(6), 641–648.
• Young, D., & Moore, W. E. (1969). Trusteeship and the Management of Foundations. Russell Sage Foundation.