William C. Young

William C. Young
8th President of Centre College
In office
September 5, 1888 – September 16, 1896
Preceded byOrmond Beatty
Succeeded byWilliam C. Roberts
Personal details
Born(1842-04-23)April 23, 1842
Danville, Kentucky, US
DiedSeptember 16, 1896(1896-09-16) (aged 54)
Danville, Kentucky, US
Resting placeBellevue Cemetery (Danville, Kentucky)
Spouse
Lucy Waller
(m. 1874; died 1896)
Parent(s)John C. Young (father)
Cornelia Crittendon Young (mother)
EducationCentre College (AB, 1859)
Danville Theological Seminary (DD, 1865)

William Clarke Young (April 23, 1842 – September 16, 1896) was an American minister, educator, and academic administrator who was the eighth president of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, from 1888 until his death in 1896. The son of Centre's fourth president, John C. Young, William attended Centre and the Danville Theological Seminary, graduating in 1859 and 1865, respectively. He had a 23-year career in the ministry, serving congregations in Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, before returning to Centre to accept the presidency following the resignation of Ormond Beatty. During Young's eight-year presidency, the college established a law school, constructed numerous buildings, and retroactively conferred degrees upon some of its first female graduates. Young was also the moderator of the Presbyterian Church General Assembly in 1892, as his father had done some thirty-nine years earlier.