Biography
obert A. Young, PE, FAPT, LEED AP, professor, joined the College of Architecture + Planning in 1993. He is the director of the Historic Preservation Program and co-director of the Mountain West Planning & Design Academy. He specializes in stewardship of the built environment which synthesizes historic preservation, building rehabilitation, sustainability, and community revitalization.
He holds degrees from the Pennsylvania State University (MSAE, Energy Conservation in Environmental Systems), the University of Michigan (MBA, Strategic Planning), Eastern Michigan University (MS, Historic Preservation Planning) and the University of Maine (BSCE, Structural Engineering). He previously worked for Albert Kahn Associates, Blount Engineers, and the University of Michigan Energy Cost Avoidance Project.
Professor Young has published or presented numerous articles and papers on historic preservation and sustainability. He is the author of Historic Preservation Technology, the first textbook to explore stewardship of the built environment within a holistic framework of sustainability. He has been an invited panelist or speaker at more than 100 local, state, national, and international conferences, meetings, and symposia on historic preservation and sustainability topics.
Professor Young has won many awards for his work including the University of Utah Distinguished Service Professorship, the Utah Heritage Foundation’s (UHF) Lucybeth Rampton award for preservation advocacy, a UHF award and a Salt Lake City Historic Landmarks Commission award for his rehabilitation of the G. H. Schettler House, and an Association for Preservation Technology Presidential Commendation.
Beyond his University service activities, Professor Young has been active in leadership in public service work that includes serving on the Salt Lake City Historic Landmarks Commission (including a term as chair), the Salt Lake City Redevelopment Authority Advisory Committee, the board of directors of ASSIST (a community design assistance center), the board of Salt Lake City Solutions, and as a trustee for the Utah Heritage Foundation. He is a cofounder of the Traditional Building Skills Institute at Snow College, which has grown into an international provider of traditional building skills educational workshops and now offers and AAS degree in traditional building. He is a member of Phi Kappa Phi and was an inaugural archival scholar for the CRS Center for Leadership and Management in the Design and Construction Industry.