ICHAEL YOUNG, Ph.D., is an associate professor of psychology in the Clinical Program. Although this is his second year at IIT, he has had a long and distinguished career before joining the fac ulty here.

Dr. Young received his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Chicago, where he initially had thought about majoring in physics. He went on to receive his doctorate from Adelphi University, where much of his research f ocused on cognition and development.

His first job was at Rockland State Hospital, where new psychiatric drugs were being tested. He ultimately gained charge of the clinical assessment side of things. After two years there, Dr. Young found an oppor tunity closer to his hometown of Chicago, at the Illinois State Psychiatric Institute. After conducting schizophrenia research there, he moved on to Rush Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center in 1980, where the prevailing research was on Affective Disord ers. During these years, Dr Young's interests gradually shifted from diagnostic and symptom issues to symptom process issues. "I was interested in how symptoms change over time and the responsible underlying process," Dr. Young says. "My research into Sea sonal Affective Disorder and Premenstrual Syndrome are examples of disorders where such issues are critical." Furthermore, Dr. Young's research has also started focusing more on the interaction of biology and psychology. Thus, the theme of how biological and psychological processes interact over time to influence psychology, runs through his current research.

Some of Dr. Young's specific findings regard the role of hopelessness in depression and suicide. It seems that trait levels are what are rela ted to suicide attempts more than the level of an individual's level of hopelessness at any given moment. Dr. Young notes, "These findings came out of a study where we did statistical modeling of how hopelessness and depression covary over time."

Dr. Young notes on his time so far at IIT that, "all the students and faculty are very committed to the work they're doing. It is impressive how well everybody works together-- faculty with faculty, faculty with students, and students with students." He a lso notes some differences between his experience at IIT and at Rush. At Rush, I was a psychologist in a medical care environment. Coming here, I would be a psychologist in a research and academic setting. But after being here, I also realize that I am a psychologist in an engineering university.”

-Omar Azam