Never miss the latest news from TexAgs! Join our free email list

Michael Kent Young, a Harvard-educated lawyer who stabilized tuition and oversaw increased research funding as president of the University of Washington, on Tuesday will be named the sole finalist for the position of Texas A&M president by the Texas A&M Board of Regents in a special telephonic meeting.Young, 65, who received his B.A. at Brigham Young University in 1973, reportedly was also recently considered for the president position at the University of Texas. But, like Kyler Murray, he will likely choose Texas A&M instead.Widely considered one of the top 10 university presidents in the nation, Young took over at the financially-struggling University of Washington in 2011. He stabilized tuition and made good on promises to provide financial help to lower-income students and implement new online courses. Also, research funding grew by more than $100 million and fundraising records were set.Further, under his guidance the University of Washington was recently ranked 15th in the nation among the top public universities and colleges in the United States by U.S. News & World Report and 11th by Forbes.Texas A&M was ranked 25th by U.S. News & World Report.After studying law at Harvard, Young served as a law clerk to the late Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. He then spent 20 years teaching and researching international law and human rights at the Columbia University Law School. There he founded the Centers for Japanese and Korean Legal Studies.He was later named dean of the George Washington University Law School. Then, he served as President and Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Utah for seven years from 2004 to 2011.Young chaired the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom from 1998-2006. He also served as Deputy Under Secretary and Ambassador for Trade & Environmental Affairs in the U.S. Department of State from 1989 to 1993.Young has written two books and six major law review articles.He would take over at Texas A&M for Dr. Mark Hussey, who has served as interim president since former president Dr. R. Bowen Loftin stepped down in 2013. Loftin is now Chancellor at the University of Missouri.