University of Utah : S.J. Quinney College of Law

Michael K. Young

Professor of Law
President, University of Utah

Professor Young was named a permanent member of the faculty upon his appointment as president of the University in April 2004. He had most recently been dean of the law school at George Washington University, which he joined in 1998. He has been a member of the Columbia University law faculty, and a visiting professor and scholar at the University of Tokyo, Waseda and Nihon universities, and a Japan Foundation Fellow. Before embarking on a teaching career, he clerked for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and for Justice Benjamin Kaplan of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Professor Young has served as an ambassador for trade and environmental affairs, deputy undersecretary of state for economic and agricultural affairs, and deputy legal adviser to the U.S. Department of State. He has published many articles and books on the Japanese legal system, dispute resolution, mergers and acquisitions, labor relations, the legal profession, comparative law, industrial policy, international trade law, legal reform in Eastern Europe, NAFTA, GATT, international environmental law, and international human rights and freedom of religion. He currently serves as chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and was appointed by Chief Justice Rehnquist to the Brown v. Board of Education 50th Anniversary Commission.