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Young served as a faculty member and administrator at Oregon State University (1948-1976 and 1986-1990), the University of Nebraska (1976-1980), and Cornell University (1980-1986).

Roy Alton Young was born 1 March 1921 in McAlister, New Mexico. He obtained an Associate of Arts degree from Eastern New Mexico Junior College in 1939, a B.S. in Biology from New Mexico State University in 1941, and an M.S. in Plant Pathology from Iowa State University in 1942. Following military service in the U.S. Navy (1943-1946), he returned to Iowa State University and completed requirements for the Ph.D. in Plant Pathology in 1948.

Young came to Oregon State University in 1948 as an Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology. He taught graduate courses on bacterial diseases of plants and plant disease control. Principal research efforts were on diseases of ornamentals and potatoes with emphasis on soil borne diseases and on fungicide research. He served as Head of the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology from 1958 until 1966, when he was appointed Dean of Research with campus-wide responsibility for research coordination.

Young served as Acting President of Oregon State University from June 1969 until July 1970 and subsequently as the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies from 1970 to 1976. In 1976, he accepted appointment as Chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and then in 1980 as Managing Director/President of the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell University. He retired in 1986 and returned to OSU, where he served as part-time Director of the Office for Natural Resources Policy until 1990.

Young was active in the American Phytopathological Society and serves on several national councils, advisory panels, and the boards of directors of several private and public organizations. He married Marilyn Sandman in 1950 and they have 2 children, Janet E. and Randall Owen.