Honorary Members of the NSIS
Dr. John Clilberd O'Connor Young
Dr. John Young has made outstanding contributions to science in Nova Scotia and beyond for more than 51 years. His academic contributions in mathematics and chemistry extend over 75 years! One of his many notable impacts was pioneering a computer-linked chemistry teaching laboratory at Saint Mary’s University in 1996. It was the first of this type at any university east of Montreal and, in a modified form, proved a valuable asset to the Gambia in 1997, where Dr. Young supervised its installation at the national university. In addition to many years of successful and well recognized teaching, Dr. Young has been a prolific researcher and publisher. In recent years his research has focused on improving standard chemical assessments and analytical tests; the results of which have been published in Chemistry Educator and widely read. He published three papers in his 95th year (2023)! During his time at Saint Mary’s University Dr. Young has held a wide spectrum of administrative roles, including acting Academic Vice President. He is a member of the NSIS, and was a member of the NSIS Council from 2011 to 2017.
Regarding Dr. Young's education and employment, John taught Mathematics to the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers from 1949-50. He received a BSc in Chemical Engineering (First Class Honours) in 1953 from the Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London, England; a PhD in 1956, also from Imperial College, and a MBA (with Distinction) in 1965 from New York University’s Graduate School of Business Administration.
Dr. Young then worked as a Senior Research Engineer for Courtaulds in England on fibre chemistry, then for the South African Industrial Development Corporation on pulp research before moving to Canada as a Research Engineer for Canadian Industries, Millhaven, on yarn fault detection. He subsequently joined the Esso Research and Engineering Company at Linden and Florham Park, New Jersey from 1961 to 1969. In 1970 he was appointed as Computerization Consultant to President Henry Labelle at Saint Mary’s University, with an attachment to the Chemistry Department, where he soon became an Associate Professor. This was the start of his long academic career in Nova Scotia, during which he has received many awards for research, teaching and student development.
Regarding professional work, between 1970 and 2008, Dr. Young’s “Advanced Fluids Research Group” carried out a series of contract research projects for provincial, national and international government agencies and private corporations in areas of aquaculture, solar energy and large-scale energy storage and delivery systems. The last of these activities led to the patenting and commercialization of novel chemical additives to increase the delivery of liquids through pipelines and to improve the efficiency of chilled water storage in district cooling systems. This body of work, and his other research before retiring as a full-time faculty member, resulted in over 158 reports and publications. More recently, Dr. Young has been involved in an evaluation of several novel commercial analytical chemistry instruments. This ongoing research has led to more publications in the widely read journal Chem. Educator, for example, see this recent paper: Read more. A video complementing this paper can be found here: Chemical Titration - a Faster Method.
Given Dr. John Young’s outstanding scientific research and academic record, his acknowledged contributions to the advancement of science, technology innovation and education, both globally and particularly in Nova Scotia, he has been elected by Council as an Honorary Member of the NSIS.