Michael Cochise Young, who oversaw for more than a decade the Flinn Scholars Program, the hallmark merit-scholarship initiative of the Flinn Foundation, passed away peacefully on November 30 at her Phoenix home. Young grew up in Philadelphia and earned a bachelor’s degree at St. Joseph’s University and master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Pennsylvania, all in English literature. Previously director of Tulane University’s Honors Program, Young joined the ASU Honors College in 1990 and was named associate dean in 1991. In that role, and in subsequent positions as director of ASU’s Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies Program and director of ASU’s Office of National Scholarship Advisement, she advised dozens of Flinn Scholars among many hundreds of other undergraduate students. From 1989-2001, she served in numerous governing-committee roles for the National Collegiate Honors Council. From 2001 to early 2012, Young served as the Flinn Foundation’s Assistant Vice President, Scholarship Programs, introducing the extraordinary opportunities afforded by the Flinn Scholarship and Arizona’s public universities to many thousands of high-achieving Arizona high-school students, teachers, and counselors, and guiding more than 200 Flinn Scholars through their undergraduate educations. After leaving the Flinn Foundation in 2012, Young worked as an independent educational consultant, with one of her major clients ASU’s Gary K. Herberger Young Scholars Academy, a specialized school for highly gifted students from grades 7-12. In the community, she was an active member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Phoenix and participated in Wisdom’s Way School, an interfaith training program for individuals preparing to work as spiritual directors. Young also continued working on a series of “children’s books for adults” focused on discernment of one’s purpose in life. A memorial service was held at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in central Phoenix on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 10:00 a.m. (Source: Flinn Foundation web site, edited by David Schwalm)