Doctor Richard Young, Former Oklahoma State Athletic Director, Passes Away

Former Oklahoma State athletic director Dr. Richard Young has passed away.

Young served as athletic director at OSU from 1978-82 and during that time, he hired football coach Jimmy Johnson, oversaw OSU athletics when women's sports shifted from the AIAW to the NCAA and helped strengthen the OSU POSSE.

He was a key figure in the construction of Allie P. Reynolds Stadium and in major renovations to the basement of Gallagher Hall, among other facilities projects.

With Young in the athletic director's chair, OSU won the 1980 NCAA men's golf championship and claimed 20 Big Eight team titles across all sports.

A 1955 cum laude graduate of Ohio State with a degree in education, Young was on the Buckeyes' 1955 Rose Bowl and national championship team.

He served in the Navy for three years after graduation before returning to Columbus to earn his master's degree in education from Ohio State in 1959.

Young then joined the Bowling Green staff as head baseball and assistant football coach. In 12 seasons as head baseball coach, he compiled a 184-146-6 record. In 1971, he was elevated to BGSU athletic director, a post he held until coming to Stillwater.

During his time at Bowling Green, he earned a Ph.D in educational administration. He was inducted into the BGSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000.