Michael Young
Ph.D. in International Relations, The Ohio State University
B.S. in Molecular Genetics with Honors, The Ohio State University
B.A. in Political Science, The Ohio State University
Dr. Michael D. Young is a Professor of Practice in the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at the University at Albany. His research focus is on the role of beliefs in policy decision making in Homeland Security and International Relations. Michael is an expert in the field of automated text analysis, recognized for his development of Profiler Plus, a general-purpose platform for automated text coding with a broad range of applications including psychological assessment, media analysis, social network analysis and political analysis, and of WorldView, a program for building and analyzing graphical representations of belief systems in the cognitive mapping tradition. Through ProfilerPlus.org he provides text analysis services to the global academic community.
Before joining the faculty of the University at Albany, Michael worked with the US Intelligence Community for fifteen years performing sponsored research and training analysts to more effectively assist US policymakers, planners, Combatant Commands, Joint Task Forces, and Special Operations Forces in assessing and forecasting foreign leadership behavior and decision making in international situations of critical interest to the United States of America—such as peacekeeping operations, crisis scenarios, or military conflicts.
Dr. Young received his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in Political Science with concentrations in International Relations, Theory and Methods, and Political Psychology. A useful overview of his perspective on cognitive analysis can be found in “Is There Method in Our Madness? Ways of Assessing Cognition in International Relations” with Mark Schafer in the May 1998 issue of Mershon International Studies Review. His most recent publications are contained in: "Coding in Tongues: Developing Non-English Coding Schemes for Leadership Profiling" International Studies Review.
CEHC Courses Taught
CEHC 210 Critical Inquiry and Communications in EHC
CEHC 310 Research Seminar in EHC
CEHC 320 Psychology of Terrorism
CEHC 391 Research Internship in EHC
CEHC 410 Capstone Project in EHC
CINF 466 Independent Research
CINF 496 Intermediate Special Topics in Informatics
CIST 529 Text Analysis
Research Interests
Role of Beliefs in Policy Decision Making in Homeland Security and International Relations