Bob Young (mayor)

Robert Wood Young (born September 3, 1947) is a Emmy nominated broadcast journalist, author, and former Mayor of Augusta, Georgia. Young also served a presidential appointment by George W. Bush on the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and at U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Young also served as the President and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Southeastern Natural Sciences Academy. He is currently owner and CEO of Eagle Veterans Services LLC and Squeaky Productions, both headquartered in Augusta, Georgia

Early life
Young was born September 3, 1947 in Pasadena, California and grew up in Thomson, Georgia. He is an alumnus of Wofford College and the Augusta State University. Bob is married to Gwen Fulcher Young of Augusta.

Heritage
Bob Young is an ancestral descendant of Brigham Young through his great-great-great grandmother: Lucy Decker Young In 2006, Bob Young, with his brother, turned over a family heirloom, (a chair once used by Brigham Young), and its historical provenance to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). "It's history to us but its greater history is to the Mormon church and the people of Salt Lake City. Skip Young"

Broadcast career
During Bob Young's 26-year-career in broadcast journalism, he produced two award-winning documentaries: "The Great March"; about General Sherman's Civil War invasion of Georgia, and: "Ike's Augusta"; a chronicle of Dwight Eisenhower's membership at Augusta National Golf Club.

Government service
Bob Young served in the US Air Force during the Vietnam War and became mayor of Augusta, Georgia, in 1999; serving until 2005. On June 20, 2005. Young accepted a presidential appointment by George W. Bush to serve as Regional Director, Atlanta Region of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) located in Atlanta, Georgia. On June 13, 2007, Young was further designated Assistant Deputy Secretary for Field Policy and Management; a position overseeing HUD Regional Directors for ten regions across the nation. Previously, he was appointed to represent the nation's mayors on the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

Writing career
In 2009, Young began writing what would become his first novel: The Treasure Train; a historical novel set in Augusta around the end of the Civil War. The book follows the account of the midnight raid at Chennault, Georgia, and the stolen shipment of confederate gold; delving into the derivative tales and folklore it spawned. Young credited Dr. Mark Waters for giving him the historical basis in fact for the storyline his fiction would closely follow. In 2017 Young published his second historical novel The Hand of the Wicked, based on the events surrounding the murder of freed woman Nellie West during Georgia Reconstruction.