As the undergraduate class of 2025 prepares to receive their diplomas, they can anticipate hearing from a successful University of Scranton alum at the commencement ceremony.  

Nicole Young, class of 2000, is set to give the commencement speech to the class May 18. Young is a 16-time Emmy award-winning senior producer for “60 Minutes.”  

Young grew up in Hopatcong, New Jersey, and from a young age knew she had a passion for humanitarianism, according to a news release. She specifically felt drawn to news stories of famine in Ethiopia. She was inspired to pursue work in journalism after analyzing news from across the world and gaining an interest in international events from spending summers in Jamaica with her family. From this, she saw journalism as the opportunity to effect positive change by creating awareness of the wrongs in the world.  

Young graduated from the University of Scranton with a bachelor's degree in communication, and she then went on to receive her master's degree in international journalism from City University of London.  

She began her career at the age of 19, working as an intern at CBS News in Washington D.C., London and New York. From there, she joined “60 Minutes” in 2004 as an assistant to correspondent Scott Pelley, and she worked her way up to become his producer a few years later.  

Young has experience in producing many prominent segments on “60 Minutes,” which is now in its 57th season.

Young has earned awards for her work, including 16 news and documentary Emmy Awards, three Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia Awards, eight Writers Guild Awards, five Edward R. Murrow Awards, two Gerald Loeb Awards, two Sigma Delta Chi Awards, six National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Salute Excellence Awards, a George Foster Peabody Award, a George Polk Award, an Investigative Reporters & Editors Award, a Grace Award, a Media for Liberty Award and a Wilbur Award.

Young has covered national and international events such as the Russia-Ukraine War, fatal earthquakes in Turkey, the fall of Syria’s dictator, tornados in Kentucky and the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Young has covered stories involving President Donald Trump and the attempted assassination of him. She worked on interviews with celebrities like Cillian Murphy. Young has also produced stories on Syria’s front lines, the famines occurring in South Sudan and Yemen, and toxic electronic waste in China. Young’s journalistic skills also include investigations on civilian deaths in air strikes in Afghanistan, the gold mining conflict in the Democratic Republic in Congo and being in Japan after a tsunami.  

Much of Young’s work is also focused on subjects close to home, like issues of people in the United States who struggle with job loss, poverty, homelessness and child hunger.  

Along with the stories she produced on “60 Minutes,” she has also led special projects for the newsmagazine, which includes the growth of the broadcast’s first free streaming channel.  

Young has also worked as a senior producer at “CBS Evening News,” where she covered events such as the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, and the election of Pope Francis.

Young is on the University of Scranton’s Board of Trustees, and she was awarded an honorary degree from the University in 2020.  

In a news release, the Rev. Joseph Marina, S.J., president of the university, said that it is an honor to have a senior producer of America’s most-watched news program return to her alma-matter to share her vast knowledge and insights with the graduating class.  

“Few television producers have achieved as much as Nicole Young. She has channeled her innate interest and skill of storytelling into compelling and acclaimed journalism with humanitarianism at its heart. Her concern for justice and passion for Jesuit education shine through in all that she does,” Marina said.  

The undergraduate commencement ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. on May 18 at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre.  

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