Johnny Young (February 6, 1940 – July 24, 2021) was an American diplomat. A Foreign Service Officer, he served as an ambassador and was posted to North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia during his 37 year service.

Early life

Johnny Young was born on February 6, 1940, in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

. His mother died in January 1941, after which he was raised by a paternal aunt. At age seven, Young moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. He grew up in poverty, and despite receiving poor grades on standardized tests, graduated high school in 1957. In the 1960s, Young traveled to

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

as a delegate from the Philadelphia

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

. Inspired by the international trip, he received his

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 ...

( magna cum laude) from the Fox School of Business and Management at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

in 1966, to work overseas". Young married Angelena Clark around 1967, and by November 22, 1970, the two were expecting their first child.

Career

From 1957 into the 1960s, Young worked as a junior accountant for the

government of Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Foreign Service

Young joined the

United States Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carry ...

as an officer in 1967. He first worked as a budget and fiscal officer in

Antananarivo Antananarivo (French language, French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("An ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

until 1970. For two years he was the supervisory general services officer in Conakry, Guinea (during

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Operation Green Sea Operation Green Sea ( pt, Operação Mar Verde) was an amphibious attack on Conakry, the capital of Guinea, by between 350 and 420 Portuguese soldiers and Portuguese-led Guinean fighters in November 1970. The goals of the operation included th ...

) before doing the same in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

from 1972–1974. From Kenya, Young transferred to

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

, where he first served as '' chargé d'affaires''. After another overseas assignment to

Bridgetown Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael. Bridgetown is sometimes locally referred to as "The Ci ...

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

, Young returned to the US in 1979 to work in the Foreign Service's

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Bureau of Personnel and Office of the Inspector General. In 1983, Young left the States to serve in Amman,

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

for two years before moving on to

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. From 1989 to 2004, Young was an

ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

. Assigned to

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

from November 29, 1989 – July 23, 1992, Young succeeded Cynthia Shepard Perry and was himself succeeded by Lauralee M. Peters. Young presented his credentials as Ambassador to

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

on October 7, 1994, taking the office recently left by Harmon Elwood Kirby; when Young left on November 21, 1997, he would be replaced by

Brenda Schoonover Brenda Brown Schoonover (born 1939) was the United States Ambassador to Togo, from January 1998 to July 2000. Schoonover was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Morgan State University in Baltimore, and did graduate ...

. As Ambassador to

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

(December 11, 1997 to September 29, 2001), Young was filling the shoes of David M. Ransom; when Young left, Ronald E. Neumann filled his role the following month. Young's final ambassadorial assignment was to

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

from October 24, 2001 – September 17, 2004; Young took the office after it was vacated by Nancy Halliday Ely-Raphel, and

Thomas Bolling Robertson Thomas Bolling Robertson (born 1950) was a career foreign service officer, ambassador, and member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor. He was the U.S. Ambassador to Slovenia 2004–2007. President George W. Bush ...

took it from Young after the latter retired. While working for the Foreign Service, Young participated in

Operation Sharp Edge Operation Sharp Edge was a non-combatant evacuation operation carried out by the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (22nd MEU) and 26th MEU of the United States Marine Corps in Liberia in 1990 and 1991. The MEUs were supported by Amphibious Squadro ...

and the evacuation of US civilians in

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and po ...

after

Valentine Strasser Valentine Esegragbo Melvine Strasser (born 26 April 1967) is an ex-military leader who served as head of state of Sierra Leone from 1992 to 1996. Previously a junior military officer he became the world's youngest Head of State in 1992, seizin ...

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

. He also received performance-based cash awards, a Superior Honor Award, a Meritorious Honor Award, and two Group Honor Awards. On October 12, 2004, Young was appointed a

Senior Foreign Service The Senior Foreign Service (SFS) comprises the top four ranks of the United States Foreign Service. These ranks were created by the Foreign Service Act of 1980 and Executive Order 12293 in order to provide the Foreign Service with senior grades eq ...

Career Ambassador Career ambassador is a personal rank of Foreign Service Officers within the United States Department of State Senior Foreign Service. The rank of career ambassador is awarded by nomination of the President and confirmation by the United States Se ...

, one of the few African Americans of his generation to be honored with such.

Post-retirement

After his retirement from government service, Young worked as a consultant, a lecturer, and the executive director of the

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (US ...

' Migration and Refugee Services Division from 2007 through at least 2013. In 2013, Young also

self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pri ...

the autobiographical ''From The Projects to the Palace: A Diplomat's Unlikely Journey from the Bottom to the Top''; printed by Xlibris, it tells Young's story from childhood through his diplomatic career. After his 2004 retirement, Young was a member of St. Augustine Catholic Church in Washington, D.C. Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2020, he died at home in

Kensington, Maryland Kensington is a town in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,213 at the 2010 United States Census. Greater Kensington encompasses the entire 20895 ZIP code, with a population of 19,054. History The area around th ...

on July 24, 2021, survived by his wife and two children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Johnny 1940 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American diplomats 21st-century American diplomats African-American Catholics Ambassadors of the United States to Bahrain Ambassadors of the United States to Sierra Leone Ambassadors of the United States to Slovenia Ambassadors of the United States to Togo American expatriates in Barbados American expatriates in Guinea American expatriates in Jordan American expatriates in Kenya American expatriates in Madagascar American expatriates in Qatar American expatriates in the Netherlands Deaths from cancer in Maryland Deaths from pancreatic cancer Fox School of Business and Management alumni United States Career Ambassadors United States Foreign Service personnel