Michael Young, assistant professor of mathematics, was selected as a Dean’s Emerging Faculty Leader. The Dean’s Emerging Faculty Leaders Awards are funded by generous donations from members of the LAS Dean’s Advisory Council as well as additional LAS alumni to recognize early to mid-career LAS faculty members who are rising stars in their fields and are respected leaders on campus, across the nation and throughout the world.
Young was selected based on his excellent research and his work on behalf of mathematicians of color. Young has worked on DEBT-M (Designing for Equity by Thinking in and about Mathematics), an NSF-funded project to improve the learning environment for students of color in the Pittsburgh Public School District. Recently he started a second NSF-funded project, Building on Strengths, to develop the Mathematician Affiliates of Color Network. The network will be a nationwide network of professionals and academics in mathematics who will serve as mentors to middle and high school students and work with teachers in local school districts to prepare underrepresented students for college mathematics courses.