Roger Young is the Ohio Northern University undergraduate commencement honorary degree recipient at this year's ONU undergrad commencement.

Young has positively impacted the lives of thousands of business students during his 34-plus year career at Ohio Northern. He joined the ONU faculty 1964 and retired in 1998. He didn’t stay retired for long; after eight years at Bluffton University, Young returned to ONU as a visiting professor emeritus in 2008.

During his initial 34 years as a faculty member at ONU, Young served in a variety of leadership roles and was recognized several times by students and colleagues. In 1972, he was named Outstanding Educator in America, and, in 1975, he became the first winner of ONU’s “Professor of the Year” contest. In 1994, he was named the George Willard Patton Chair, and, in 1995, he received an Excellence in Teaching honor.

Young served as vice president for financial affairs from 1989 to 1993 and again in 2011-12, interim dean of the College of Business Administration from 1984 to 1986, and chair of the Department of Business Administration and Economics from 1974 to 1979. The Dicke College of Business Administration recently established the Roger D. Young Endowed Professorship in Accounting to honor the accounting professor emeritus who inspired countless ONU students over a period of more than three decades.

As a professor at ONU, Young had the opportunity to teach two of his own children, Kevin Young, BSBA ’82, and Brian Young, BSBA ’90, as well as a grandchild, Emily (Cingolani) Long, BSBA ’10, and her husband, Matt Long, BSBA ’10. Two other grandchildren are current ONU students: Jake Maher, a sophomore civil engineering major, and Hannah Price, freshman nursing major. A third grandchild, Kyle Young, is set to start at ONU this fall.

Retirement has been elusive for Young. In fact, he currently serves as interim dean of the Division of Business and Public Service at Rhodes State College in Lima.

Young received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Miami University of Ohio in 1959 and his MBA in accounting from Xavier University in 1964.