Michael (Mike) Young

Michael (Mike) Young is the Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School. He provides the provost with strategic insight on issues related to graduate students, programs, and faculty. Prior to joining Baylor in 2025, Dr. Young was at Kansas State University, where he served as Graduate Program Director of Psychological Sciences, Department Head, and Acting Associate Dean of the Graduate School.  During his 9 years as Head of Psychological Sciences, he guided the unit toward doubling its endowment and publication productivity, and greatly increasing its research expenditures.  His tenure as Head was highlighted by receiving the Kansas State University Presidential Award for Outstanding Department Head in 2020.  While serving as Acting Associate Dean in the Graduate School, he led efforts to improve the quality of data dashboards in support of program assessment, increased the efficient processing of curricular changes, and improved policies governing accelerated programs.

Dr. Young began his career as a computer scientist (B.S., U. of Illinois; M.S., U. of Minnesota) with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence, working for the Army Corps of Engineers, Procter & Gamble, and Hewlett-Packard. After switching to cognitive psychology for his Ph.D. (U. of Minnesota), he was a postdoc at the University of Iowa and then worked up the academic ranks at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale before joining K-State. He has published over 130 research articles in cognitive psychology and decision science, and his research has been funded by NIH, NSF, DOD, HHS, AFOSR, and the Hershey Company.