John Zachary Young, M.A. (Oxon), D.Sc., LL.D., FRS |
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John Zachary Young in 1978
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Born |
Bristol, England |
18 March 1907
Died | 4 July 1997 Oxford, England |
(Age 90)
Nationality | British |
Fields | Zoology, Anatomy, Physiology |
Institutions | University College London, |
Alma mater | Magdalen College, University of Oxford |
Known for | Research on the giant axon of the squid |
Influenced | Semir Zeki |
Notable awards |
Royal Medal (1967) Linnean Medal (1973) |
John Zachary Young FRS (18 March 1907 – 4 July 1997), generally known as "JZ" or "JZY", was an English zoologist and neurophysiologist, described as "one of the most influential biologists of the 20th century".
Young went to school at Marlborough College. In 1928, he received a first class honours degree in zoology from Magdalen College, Oxford. On Oct. 12, 1942, Young spoke at the Socratic Club in Oxford on the topic "Purpose and Design in Nature" as part of the series of talks and debates led by C. S. Lewis. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1945 and served as Professor of Anatomy at University College London from then until 1974. The following year, he became a Professor Emeritus and proposed a degree programme in the Human Sciences.
Among his honors are a Linnean Medal for zoology from the Linnean Society of London, awarded in 1973. He was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Science) by the University of Bath in 1974. The chair of the Anatomy Department at University College London is named the J. Z. Young Chair in his honour. For many years Young spent the summer experimenting season at the Stazione Zoologica in Naples. In 1991 the city awarded him honorary citizenship, and the President of the Stazione Zoologica awarded him its Gold Medal. That year he was also invited by the Italian Biological Society to give an anniversary lecture, as the society's oldest living member; for this lecture, Young picked the same subject he had talked about 63 years earlier, in 1928.
In 1981, Young became a founding member of the World Cultural Council.