Hugh David Young (November 3, 1930 – August 20, 2013) was an American

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

who taught physics for 52 years at Carnegie Mellon University. Young is best known for co-authoring the later editions of ''

University Physics ''University Physics'' is the name of a two-volume physics textbook written by Hugh Young and Roger Freedman. The first edition of ''University Physics'' was published by Mark Zemansky and Francis Sears in 1949. Hugh Young became a coauthor with ...

'', a highly regarded introductory physics textbook, with

Francis Sears Francis Weston Sears (October 1, 1898 – November 12, 1975) was an American physicist. He was a professor of physics at MIT for 35 years before moving to Dartmouth College in 1956. At Dartmouth, Sears was the Appleton Professor of Physics. He i ...

and

Mark Zemansky Mark Waldo Zemansky (May 5, 1900 – December 29, 1981Bederson, Benjamin"The Physical Tourist: Physics and New York City" Phys. perspect. 5 (2003) 87–121 © Birkha¨ user Verlag, Basel, 2003. Cf. p.106 &c.) was an American physicist. He was a pr ...

(this book — first published in 1949 — is often referred to as "Sears and Zemansky", although Hugh Young became a coauthor in 1973). Young was born on November 3, 1930, in Ames, Iowa, and was raised in Mondamin and

Osage, Iowa Osage is a city in Mitchell County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,627 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Mitchell County. Geography Osage is located at (43.284618, -92.812129). According to the United States C ...

. He came to Carnegie Mellon as an undergraduate physics major in 1948, and, by 1959, had earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

, and PhD in Physics from the university. He later earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

in 1972, concentrating in organ performance. Except for brief visiting professorships at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, Young spent 60 years at Carnegie Mellon. He taught more than 18,000 students and attained international prominence as a leading author of physics textbooks, including books on the statistical treatment of data, laboratory techniques, fundamental topics in introductory physics, and a survey text, ''

'' on which his collaboration with Sears and Zemansky began in 1973. Now in its 15th edition, ''University Physics'' is among the most widely used introductory textbooks in the world. Young also wrote an algebra-based version named Sears and Zemansky's ''College Physics'', which is currently in its 11th edition. In 2001, the Mellon College of Science's College Council approved the Hugh D. Young Graduate Student Teaching Award in his honor. His honors included many of Carnegie Mellon University's highest awards: The William H. and Frances S. Ryan Award for Meritorious Teaching (1965), the Carnegie Mellon Alumni Service Award (1995); The Robert E. Doherty Award for Sustained Contributions to Excellence in Education (1997); the Mellon College of Science's Richard Moore Award (1998); the Andrew Carnegie Society Recognition Award (2007). His lectures were often standing room only and showed not only Young's brilliance, but also his sense of humor. Young died at the age of 82 on August 20, 2013, in

Oakmont, Pennsylvania Oakmont is a borough in Allegheny County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is a Pittsburgh suburb and part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 6,303 as of the 2010 Census. Incorporated as a town in 1889, this Allegheny River ...

Books

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Hugh D 1930 births 2013 deaths American textbook writers American male non-fiction writers American physicists Carnegie Mellon University faculty Carnegie Mellon University alumni People from Ames, Iowa People from Harrison County, Iowa People from Osage, Iowa