Anne Sewell Young

Anne Sewell Young (January 2, 1871 – August 15, 1961) was an American astronomer. She was an astronomy professor at Mount Holyoke College for 37 years. Her influence on the astronomy program at Mount Holyoke was profound, and lasted far beyond her own time as one of the eight members of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO). Young came from a family with a strong tradition and connection in astronomy. Her grandfather, Professor Ira Young, held the Chair of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy at Dartmouth College, and her great-grandfather, and uncle were all respected Dartmouth astronomers, and her great-uncle even designed the observatory at Dartmouth.

Education She earned a B.L. from Minnesota's Carleton College in 1892. She then went to Walla Walla, Washington, and taught mathematics at Whitman College for three years before returning to Carleton, earning her M.S. in 1897. She earned her Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1906. Her dissertation assessed measurements of early photographs and determined that the constellation Perseus had twice as many stars as previously thought.

Career Young started her career at Mount Holyoke College in 1898. Young traced A904 EB at the University of California with assistance from J Ueta of the Kyoto Observatory in Japan. She was elected the organization's President in 1923.

The next few years were Miss Young’s last before retirement in 1936. She continued her usual routine of courses, carrying out observations and speaking to amateur astronomy groups. Her last annual departmental report lamented the fact that since students were no longer required to take mathematics, there was an increasing reluctance among many to take anything involving figures. And she concluded by modestly saying that though she had always fallen short of what she hoped to accomplish, what she had achieved was largely due to the support of her co-workers. She was delighted to be able to leave the department in the capable hands of Alice Farnsworth.

In June 1936, Young retired, at the age of sixty-five, and became professor emerita. She was succeeded by her former student, Alice Hall Farnsworth, as director of the Williston Observatory. Young moved to Claremont, California, with her sister; she died there on August 15, 1961.

Honors

Young was one of eight astronomers, and the only woman of the eight that who in 1911, formed the AAVSO. Served as Vice President of the AAVSO in 1922-1924. Director of the John Payson Williston Observatory.