Ian Young (academic)

Ian Robert Young is an Australian academic. He is the Kernot Professor of Engineering at the University of Melbourne. He previously held the administrative roles of vice-chancellor of Swinburne University of Technology from 2003 to 2011 and vice-chancellor of the Australian National University from 2011 to 2016.

Young's field of research is Ocean Engineering and particularly the role of wind-generated ocean waves. His work has focused on the development of global wave prediction models, extreme wind and wave conditions, tropical cyclone generated waves, nearshore sea states and the role of global winds and waves in climate change.

Young is an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia, a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, received the Centenary Medal "in recognition for his services to research" in 2000 and became an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia in 2012 for his "services to higher education and research". He was awarded the Lorenz G. Straub medal for research in Hydraulic Engineering in 1986, and has been ranked by Engineers Australia as one of Australia's top 100 Engineers. In 2017, he was awarded the Kevin Stark medal for excellence in Coastal and Ocean Engineering.