Lecture

Ambassador Stephen M. Young assumed his responsibilities as Consul General of the United States of America in Hong Kong on March 11, 2010. As Consul General, he is responsible for the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions.

Ambassador Young was born in Washington, D.C. and educated at Wesleyan University, where he received a B.A. (1973), and the University of Chicago, where he received an M.A. (1974) and a Ph.D. (1980) in history.

Ambassador Young joined the State Department in 1980. Most recently, he was a member of the faculty at National Defense University's Industrial College of the Armed Forces, located at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. His most recent overseas assignment was as Director of the American Institute in Taiwan. Ambassador Young was U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic from 2003 to 2005. He also served in Beijing and Moscow. Within the State Department, he was the Director of the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs; the Director of the Office of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh Affairs; and the Director of the Office of Caucasus and Central Asian Affairs. Ambassador Young speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and Russian.

Ambassador Young is married to Barbara A. Finamore, an attorney who heads the China Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). They have three children: Michael is working in Washington, D.C.; Rebecca is a senior at Scripps College in Claremont, California; and Patrick is a sophomore at Chapman University in Orange County, California.