Dear AUGS Membership,

A cherished colleague and friend to many of us passed away this past weekend (September 4, 2021), Stephen B. Young, MD. Dr. Young was AUGS’ 26th President serving in 2004-2005. He was an advocate of excellence in gynecologic surgery and was pivotal in the establishment of the AUGS-SGS Fellows Pelvic Research Network (FPRN). He was beloved by his patients, medical students, residents, and fellows and significantly contributed to training accomplished surgeons/providers within the Urogynecology community.

With the help of his past fellows, the following summary of his professional career is presented. Young graduated from George Washington University School of Medicine in 1968 followed by a surgical internship at Mount Sinai. He was an on-call doctor for the iconic Woodstock Music Festival in 1969. He relocated to Woodstock in the early 1970s where he was a general practitioner, opening an office in a small house in Silver Hollow as well as driving around Woodstock in a refurbished Suburban – outfitted with a bed and cabinets - delivering babies. In the late 70s, he moved to Northern Maine where he practiced low-risk obstetrics until the early 1980s. Young then was accepted into the Brown University Ob/Gyn Residency program. He was passionate about vaginal surgery under the tutelage of Dr. David Nichols at Brown and was always very proud of his surgical pedigree.

In 1990, Dr. Young founded the Division of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery (Urogynecology) at the University of Massachusetts where he was Director until retiring in 2010. While at UMass he taught four FPMRS fellows (Lisa Labin, Scott Kambiss, Emily Weber LeBrun, Diego Illanes). He was known throughout UMass as a wonderful educator and dynamic mentor who used vibrant language and imagery. He took patient care very seriously but was also known among his fellows as a fun-loving jokester and connoisseur of a diverse variety of music. He mentored Allison Howard into becoming a skilled urodynamics technician and an incredibly skilled research assistant. Allison assisted Steve with everything from study design, subject recruitment, poster creation, and anatomic drawings. In his last years, Steve took up painting and gifted a collage to Allison filled with images and words including, "Laughter to be of a kind that inspires joy; for, after all, that is why we are here. SBY"

After his retirement, Steve returned to Woodstock, NY, where he reunited with a wonderful woman, Beverly Traum who he had first met back in the 1970s. They were married for several years before he passed away. Steve and Bev lived on a farm with a lovely lily-covered pond and a barn converted into a guest house. He enjoyed walking through the woods and meadows with his Irish Wolfhound, Moira for many years before she passed – most recently with their Golden, DeeDee. Steve was a proud father to three children and four grandchildren.

Sincerely,

Holly E. Richter, PhD, MD