Campus mourns loss of esteemed teacher, colleague
YOUNG
By Manny Casillas | Editorial Assistant
“Live life with joyful amazement, and accept death with the calm frankness of inevitability and finality, wonder and acceptance,” Dr. Philip Young, taken from Phil Young’s Ten Commandments
University of Indianapolis faculty and staff member Dr. Philip Young passed away on Jan. 7, of heart-related issues at age 55.
Young was director of the Krannert Memorial Library and assistant professor of anthropology. He held positions in both the history and anthropology departments. Recently, he had been working on plans for a major renovation of the campus library.
A memorial was held in honor of Young and his family in the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center on Jan. 13. The event included colleagues sharing their memories of Young. These speakers included Phylis Lan Lin, professor of social sciences and John Langdon, professor of biology. Jim Ream of the UIndy department of theatre gave a reading of Young’s poetry.
“It was an honor and a privilege to be asked to read Phil’s poetry,” Ream said. “I had no idea that he wrote poetry and that it was as wonderful as it was.”
In the early 1990’s, Young became familiar to television viewers in Indiana as the judge of WTHR’s weekly “Brain Game” series, in which he carried the moniker of “Dr. Phil”.
“I think a lot of people at the memorial didn’t realize how broad his skills were, his interests were, he wasn’t just all work here. You knew he was a great intellect,” said Jeff Russell, chief information officer, Information Systems and a colleague of Young’s.
Music department staffers Pete Schmutte and Kathleen Hacker performed a medley of Billy Joel’s “Good night, My Angel” and The Beatles’ classic “Let It Be”. The event ended with the sending forth by Sr. Jennifer Horner, assistant professor, and Rev. L. Lang Brownlee.
“I learned that most of us all knew just a little bit of Phil, and I loved very much what I knew of him, but there was so much more that was there,” Ream said.
Young was born Oct. 7, 1953 in Ithaca, N.Y. He earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a Master’s Degree in library science from Indiana University.
Young’s teaching career began in 1979, when he became a history professor at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C. From there, he came to UIndy, where he remained, also serving as an adjunct faculty member for the School of Information Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Young taught ancient history and classical archeology, picked up archeological field work experience in Greece, England, France, Cyprus and Virginia and served as the director of UIndy’s Archeological Field School in Cyprus from 1997-1999.
Young also authored various books and articles and served as consultant for the University of Indianapolis Press.
Young is survived by his wife, Nancy, his sister, Janet Long, and his parents, Charles and Betty Young.
