Education Professor from Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus to be
Celebrated as New York State Regent At Large on Thursday, May 1

Lester W. Young Jr. now holds ‘historic seat’ on state Board of Regents

Brooklyn, N.Y. – Celebrating the election of Lester W. Young Jr. as regent at large on the New York State Board of Regents, a reception will be held at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus on Thursday, May 1. Expected guests include schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein and Dr. Adelaide L. Sanford, former vice chancellor of the Board.

"Dr. Young is the most recent successor to what is, in fact, an historic seat on the Board of Regents," said Provost Gale Stevens Haynes, noting that it last was held by two pioneering educators, Dr. Sanford and, before her, Dr. Kenneth B. Clark.

In addition to the chancellor and Dr. Sanford, Associate State Education Commissioner Sheila Evans Tranumn, Councilmember Albert Vann and University faculty members and officials are expected at the reception in Dr. Young’s honor.

The event on Thursday, May 1, takes place from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on the University’s Brooklyn Campus in the Louise B’69 and Leonard Riggio Cyber Café. The Campus is located near Flatbush and DeKalb avenues in Downtown Brooklyn.

Also an associate professor of education at the Brooklyn Campus, Dr. Young has been a respected leader in urban education for four decades. In addition to being a teacher, guidance counselor and principal, he has been a supervisor of special education services, community superintendent of District 13, associate state education commissioner and a top administrator for the city’s Department of Education. As senior executive for the Office of Youth Development and School Community Services, he oversaw programs that ranged from alternative schools and anti-truancy efforts to counseling for children and families affected by the September 11 terrorist attacks. Among his far-reaching accomplishments is the founding of Benjamin Banneker Academy, a four-year high school in Brooklyn where students have achieved a 99 percent graduation and college-placement rate.

The Board of Regents, made up of 12 representatives for individual state districts and four at-large members, presides over the New York State Education Department and the State University of New York. The state legislature announced its election of Dr. Young to the unpaid position on March 12. He is serving the last two years of a five-year term held by Dr. Sanford, who retired.

Posted: April 30, 2008

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