VP Nancy Young Named One of Maryland's Top 100 Women

Nationally recognized for her leadership and broad expertise, Vice President for Student Affairs Nancy Young is creating strategic partnerships across the university and beyond, and she is passionate about fostering a campus community in which all students are valued, engaged, and safe. In honor of her professional accomplishments, community leadership, and mentoring, Young was named one of Maryland's Top 100 Women by The Daily Record.

"The 2022 Maryland's Top 100 Women are high achievers who are leading change and mentoring the next generation. They bring unique gifts to leadership roles and help advance and grow companies across this great state," said Suzanne Fischer-Huettner, senior group publisher of The Daily Record. "They are leading businesses during extraordinary times by guiding their teams from survival to ongoing success. We are pleased to celebrate these incredible women and all they have accomplished."

Young joined the UMBC community in 1986 and has served as the vice president for student affairs at UMBC since 2007. Most recently, she was instrumental in developing an integrated approach to health and counseling to support students' physical, behavioral, and emotional well-being as a foundation for academic success, and in securing a new combined health and counseling building which opened in fall 2021. She also guided the creation of DoSA's newest department, Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion, and Belonging (i3b), the result of a multi-year divisional effort to appropriately align diversity and inclusion support and resources for underrepresented and marginalized populations and provide leadership for staff-related diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and concerns. 

As the 2021 chair of the Council of Student Affairs for the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities, Young collaborated and developed strategies with other student affairs leaders across the U.S. to create and promote practices that enhance students' experiences and well-being during one of the most challenging times in higher education and student affairs. 

Under Young's direction,UMBC's Division of Student Affairs leadership and staff help students maintain community connections and engagement--recognizing, celebrating, and supporting students as whole people and emerging leaders. She strongly believes that student success is not a policy or program but must be deeply embedded in the university culture. "When we think about our student engagement initiatives, we see the links to recruitment, retention, and student outcomes, which is why our partnerships across the university are so important," she says.

Young continues to work with partners across the university and the University System of Maryland to manage UMBC's response to COVID-19, and played a critical role in bringing the American Council on Education's (ACE) Internationalization Lab to UMBC. As a member of the Internationalization Steering Committee, she is helping to develop a plan for advancing intercultural, international, and global initiatives. Young also collaborates with Academic Affairs and other divisions to build programs that support students' academic and professional success and strengthen the university's commitment to diversity and inclusion. In addition, she mentors and teaches student leaders.

A long-time resident of Maryland and graduate of the Greater Baltimore Committee's leadership program, Young is equally passionate about her hometown. She volunteers with Central Maryland Volunteers and as an instructor with KidPower, serves on the advisory board of the Maryland Collaborative to Reduce High Risk Drinking, and served on the Red Cross Life and Baltimore Child Abuse Center Boards.

"As vice president for student affairs, Dr. Young has demonstrated her deep commitment to our students in building a strong, student-centered student affairs program focused on student development, engaged and active learning, and holistic, community based initiatives," says UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski. "She has developed meaningful partnerships across the university that have enhanced our student success efforts, and she is an amazing leader and role model who has inspired countless young people over the course of her career. Dr. Young is a superb example of compassionate and effective leadership, and we are proud that she is being recognized for her work."

Maryland's Top 100 Women will be honored at a reception and awards celebration May 9 at 4:30 p.m. at the University of Maryland Riggs Alumni Center. Winners will be profiled in a special magazine that will be inserted into the May 10 issue of The Daily Record and will be available online at TheDailyRecord.com.