The Possibilities Are Endless
Greg Young (MS ’74) has always been fascinated by the potential for scientific discovery and its impact on the world. His strong math skills first led him to pursue a degree in geology from the University of Buffalo (now the State University of New York at Buffalo), then to Purdue University, where he arrived in 1973. Young was intent on earning his master’s degree in geophysics within 17 months in order to fulfill an obligation to the United States Air Force, which was sponsoring his education.
At Purdue, he worked around the clock, and he recalls the challenges that presented. “I remember carrying my thesis computer program, which barely fit on one IBM card box — about 2,100 cards — across campus to the computer center in the dead of winter, with snow everywhere, at midnight,” Young said. “You got the best turnaround on running your computer programs if you ran at that hour, and there were no remote job-entry points during my first year at Purdue. We eventually got a terminal about halfway across campus.”
Young did manage to find time to marry Janne, now his wife of 31 years, in August 1974, just a few months prior to graduating from Purdue as a distinguished graduate.
“During my last four months at Purdue, I would typically leave at 7:30 in the morning and return after 11:30 at night,” Young recalled. “It wasn’t the most glamorous way to begin a marriage, but it has worked out just fine.”
After graduation, he served in the Air Force and then the Central Intelligence Agency. In 1980, he accepted a position with Springfield, Virginia-based ENSCO Inc., a $100 million engineering, science, and advanced technology company dedicated to providing extraordinary solutions. In his 25 years at ENSCO, he has served as a practicing scientist, manager, director, executive, and leader, helping to maintain the company’s roots in science and engineering as it works to tackle some of the world’s most difficult challenges. Since 1994, he has served as the company’s president and chief operating officer.
The possibilities presented by scientific discovery still excite him. “Today, the role of science is at its peak,” Young says. “Research in biology, chemistry, physics, and many other scientific fields is at a revolutionary stage. There are enormous discoveries being made.”