Stephen M. Young served as a U.S. diplomat for over 33 years, with assignments in Washington, Taipei, Moscow, Beijing, Kyrgyzstan and Hong Kong. He earned a BA at Wesleyan University and a PhD in history at the University of Chicago. Young was Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic, Director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and Consul General to Hong Kong. Young first lived in Taiwan as a teen in the 1960’s, when his father was a MAAG Advisor to the Taiwan military. He has lived a total of 11 years in Taiwan. Since retiring to his family home in New Hampshire in 2013, Young has been writing and speaking. He was a Visiting Professor at Wesleyan University in 1994-95, where he taught a seminar on Modern Chinese Foreign Policy. Young speaks Russian and Chinese. His wife, Barbara Finamore, founded the China Program in Beijing for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).