Office of University Communications
Youngs establish professorships for Honors College
Date: November 15, 2006
Contact: Dr. Michael Nietzel, (417) 836-8500
Greg Onstot, ( 417) 836-6666
SPRINGFIELD — The 873 students in the Honors College at Missouri State University will benefit as the result of a recent gift commitment from Rich and Doris Young. The gift will provide annual funding for the appointment of three faculty members as Honors College Professors for terms of three years, with one of the three professorships being assigned to the director.
The director of the Honors College will select the other Young Honors College Professorships based on recommendations from the University’s Honors Committee. The Honors College Professors will be expected to develop and engage in special activities critical to the Honors College curriculum and students. For example, they might serve as mentors to students applying for national/international fellowships or develop special sections of current courses, departmental honors courses or honors study abroad courses.
“This gift by Rich and Doris Young is a wonderful investment in the future of the Honors College at Missouri State University,” said Missouri State President Michael T. Nietzel. “It will enable us to intensify the involvement of some of our most outstanding faculty with more of our excellent students. We are very grateful for the Youngs’ recognition of how important a strong Honors College is to a first-rate university.”
The Missouri State Honors College provides a program of enhanced, advanced study and recognition for students of unusually strong academic achievement and motivation. Students in the Honors College are provided with intellectual opportunities beyond those generally found in the more traditional programs: smaller and enriched classes, direct contact with outstanding faculty members and the option to pursue their own intellectual, research and creative interests.
Membership in the Missouri State Honors College is offered to first-time freshmen who score 27 or higher on the ACT (or 1220 or higher on the SAT) and who have graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school class or have a grade point average (GPA) of 3.90 or higher. Other students, including transfer students, may apply for membership no later than the first semester of the sophomore year. To maintain membership a student must have a 3.25 cumulative GPA, and should also carry a full-time load of at least 12 credit hours per semester.
“There is no doubt that the funding of these professorships will elevate the Honors College,” said Dr. Art Spisak, director of the Honors College. “The ultimate beneficiaries of this gift will be the honors students who attend Missouri State University.”
Rich Young, who received the Missouri State University Outstanding Alumni Award in 2005, graduated from Missouri State in 1961 with a B.S. in economics. While a student, the Mountain Grove native was president of Sigma Phi Epsilon and the Interfraternity Council, as well as editor of the “Ozarko” yearbook.
Following graduation, Young was commissioned as an Army second lieutenant and earned recognition as a Distinguished Military Graduate. His services to the Army resulted in the rank of captain and the presentation of the Army Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster.
Following his military service, Young attended the University of Kansas and earned an M.A. in economics.
Young has held the positions of senior vice president-investment counsel division of Massachusetts Financial Services; executive vice president, chief investment officer and member of the office of the president for the Bessemer Trust Companies in New York City and his current post as president of Welch & Forbes LLC, one of the nation’s oldest fiduciary and investment firms, located in Boston. Through Young’s leadership, the assets of the firm have quadrupled to more than $4 billion.
Young is a member of the Boston Society of Security Analysts and a trustee of the Emerson Foundation. He is past president of the Boston Economics Club; past chairman of the Fenn School Trustees-Concord, Massachusetts; and former director of Bay Banks/Harvard Trust Company of Boston.
Doris is a lifelong resident of suburban Boston. She received her bachelor’s degree in political science from Northeastern University and attended graduate school at Boston University.