John A. Young (born April 24, 1932) is an American business executive and electrical engineer. He was chief executive officer of
Hewlett-Packard
The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...
from 1978 to 1992. He also formerly served as a director of
Wells Fargo & Company
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
.
Biography
Young was born in 1932 in
Nampa, Idaho
Nampa () is the largest city in Canyon County, Idaho. Its population was 100,200 at the time of the 2020 Census. It is Idaho's third-most populous city. Nampa is about west of Boise along Interstate 84, and six miles (10 km) west of Meridian. ...
. He received his BS degree in electrical engineering in 1953 from
Oregon State University
Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...
, later receiving an MBA degree from
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
. Young served in the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
as a second lieutenant from 1954 to 1956.
In 1958 he joined Hewlett-Packard, rising to the post of vice president in 1968. He was elected executive vice president and a director in 1974. Young succeeded
William Hewlett as president of Hewlett-Packard in 1977, receiving the titles of chief operating officer in 1977 and chief executive officer in 1978.
He was elected a director of
Chevron
Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to:
Science and technology
* Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines
* Chevron (anatomy), a bone
* ''Eulithis testata'', a moth
* Chevron (geology), a fold in rock lay ...
in 1985. Upon the merger with
Texaco
Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American Petroleum, oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its Gasoline, fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an Indepe ...
in 2000, he became a director of Chevron Texaco, serving until 2003.
Having had a long association with competitiveness issues, he chaired President Reagan's Commission on Industrial Competitiveness and in 1986 founded the
Council on Competitiveness
The Council on Competitiveness is an American non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. The Council’s goal is to increase the United States' economic competitiveness in the global marketplace. The Council also works to bring high-value ...
, serving as chairman until 1990. Young served on President Clinton's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology from 1993 to 2000.
Young retired in October 1992 as president and CEO of Hewlett-Packard and was succeeded in both posts by
Lewis E. Platt
Lewis Emmett Platt (April 11, 1941 – September 8, 2005) was an American businessman and corporate director, who was chairman, president and chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard.
Personal life and education
Platt was born in Johnson C ...
. In 1995 he was elected a director of Novell, serving as acting chairman from August 1996 to April 1997 and as vice chairman until 2001.
Currently, Young is a director of Affymetrix, Inc., Vermillion, Inc. (formerly Ciphbergen Biosystems, Inc.), Fluidigm Corporation, Nanosys Inc., and Perelgen Sciences, Inc. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. In addition to Chevron and Novell, he formerly served on the boards of
Wells Fargo & Company
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
, International Integration, Inc., Lucent Technology, Smith Kline Beecham, and Agere Systems.
References
External links
John A. Young Retired President and Chief Executive Officerat
Hewlett-Packard
The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, John A.
1932 births
Living people
Hewlett-Packard people
Wells Fargo
Oregon State University alumni
United States Air Force officers
Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering
Silicon Valley people