Michael Young
Interim Vice President for Student Affairs
(707) 664-3614
michael.young@sonoma.edu
Professional Background
Michael D. Young, Ph.D., retired in January 2015 after 25 years serving as the vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). In this role, Michael oversaw 25 departments in the Division of Student Affairs including those that provided services and programs to promote students’ physical and emotional well-being. At his retirement, Michael was granted the honorary title of Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Emeritus.
From 2005-07, Michael served as co-chair for the UC Systemwide Committee on Student Mental Health, presenting a final report and recommendations to the UC Regents. In 2008, he co-chaired the China-U.S.-Canada Student Affairs Summit in Beijing, China. In the last several years, Michael served as chair of the UC Systemwide Admissions Processing Task Force; was a member of the applyUC Steering Committee; and served on the UC Campus Security Task Force, chairing a sub-committee on student mental health. He currently serves on the UC Systemwide Student Health Steering Panel and is co-chair of the UC Systemwide Student Mental Health Oversight Committee, which is charged with overseeing implementation of report recommendations on all UC campuses.
Michael has been active in the Santa Barbara community for many years. Among other community service roles, he was a board member for the United Way of Santa Barbara County for 15 years, also serving as the general campaign chair for the organization’s community-wide campaign in 1997-98; was a member of Santa Barbara’s Fighting Back Steering Committee for 14 years; and served for many years on the Santa Barbara Sansum Clinic Board of Trustees. Michael currently serves as a board member of the Santa Barbara Foundation serving as a member of the Executive Committee, the Strategy Committee and chairing the Core Needs for Basic Services Grant Committee. Michael received his doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Iowa; his master’s degree in history from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and his bachelor’s degree in history from Beloit College in Wisconsin. In 2012, Michael received an honorary degree from Beloit College.