Jimmy A. Young, MEd, RRT
An outstanding and dedicated leader, Jimmy Albert Young’s contributions to respiratory care left an indelible mark on the profession. After earning his RRT in 1965, he led a distinguished career in management and education when respiratory therapy was still relatively new.
Born in South Carolina, Jimmy was the son of Wallace Young Sr. and Lois Burton Young. Described as a loving and dedicated husband and father, his wife Naomi Berry Young, and two children, Kyndra and Scott, were devastated by his untimely death in 1975.
After graduating from high school in Tryon, North Carolina, he received a bachelor of arts degree from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and achieved the Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) credential in 1965; Registry #263. Passionate about education, he earned a master of education degree from the Graduate School of Education at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1971.
A respected figure in Boston, he was Chief Inhalation Therapist at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital from 1960 to 1966. Following a brief period at Inhalation Therapy Services, Inc., he stepped into the Director of the Program in Respiratory Therapy position at Northeastern University in Boston. In 1970, Mr. Young moved to Massachusetts General Hospital as Director of the Respiratory Therapy Department until his death from sudden cardiac arrest in 1975.
Jimmy was a respected author, educator, and humanitarian. In addition to his many published articles, he co-authored one of the early respiratory therapy texts, Principles and Practice of Inhalation Therapy, with Dean Crocker in 1970. Voluntarily paying for his travel expenses to examination sites, Mr. Young served as an Associate Examiner for the NBRC RRT Oral Examinations from 1966 to 1975. Dedicated to the profession, he was the 22nd President of the AARC (1973) and a Trustee and Member-at-Large of the Executive Committee for the NBRC when he died.
Since 1978, the NBRC has sponsored the Jimmy A. Young Memorial Lecture at the AARC’s Summer Forum in honor of his commitment to credentialing and education. Additionally, the AARC’s highest annual award for respiratory care service is named in his honor, the Jimmy Albert Young Medal.
The NBRC is proud to have been a part of Mr. Young’s unique legacy. His passion and dedication to the field of respiratory care helped push the profession forward in many positive ways and will never be forgotten.
