Owen D. Young

Lore & Background

Owen D. Young was born on a farm in Van Hornesville, New York, to Jacob Smith Young and Ida Brandow, and grew up with siblings including a brother and sister. His family had emigrated from Germany in the 18th century. He showed an early aptitude for learning, attending East Springfield Academy and later St. Lawrence University, graduating in 1894. He completed a law degree at Boston University in 1896 and joined a Boston law firm, eventually becoming a partner. He married Josephine Sheldon Edmonds in 1898, and they had five children.

Young's career advanced after he represented Stone and Webster in a case against General Electric around 1911. This led to his appointment as GE's Chief Counsel in 1912. He became GE's president in 1922 and chairman, serving until 1939. In 1919, at the government's request, he organized the formation of RCA as a subsidiary of GE to counter British dominance in radio communications, serving as its first chairman until 1929. He served as a member of the Dawes Committee in 1924 and chaired the 1928-1929 conference that produced the Young Plan, reducing German reparations. He was Time's Man of the Year in 1929.

Reader's Guide

Owen D. Young's significance lies in his dual impact on international finance and American industry. The Young Plan, though ultimately collapsed by the Great Depression, represented a major effort to stabilize post-World War I Europe by reducing Germany's reparations burden. His creation of RCA helped establish the United States as a leader in radio technology, shaping modern communications. Young also contributed to education, serving on the New York State Board of Regents and heading a commission that laid groundwork for the State University of New York. His legacy includes the Owen D. Young Central School in his hometown and honorary degrees from over twenty colleges. He was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1981 and the Consumer Technology Hall of Fame in 2019.

Did You Know?

• Young was Time Magazine's Man of the Year in 1929.
• He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1932.
• He built the Van Hornesville Central School in 1930, later renamed in his honor.
• His son Philip Young became U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands.