Jim Young is a professional author, educator, and actor. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Fullerton and past District Governor 5320 in Southern California.

During his professional career, Jim served as Associate Vice President for Academic Programs, California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) and Department Chairman and founder of the department of Theater, CSUF. He holds a BS, MA, and Ph D. degrees.

He has recreated the role of Paul Harris in over 360 live performances around the world with honoriums going to the Foundation. His efforts on behave of Rotary have earned him the citation for "Meritorious Service" from Rotary International.

Past District Governor, 5320, Herbert Trumpoldt perhaps said it best, "Jim's performance captures the very essence of Rotary!"

Local Author, Educator and Actor, Jim Young, Stars in New Video Release

Local author, educator and actor, Jim Young said that he is pleased to be the featured performer in the newly released VHS (now DVD too) formatted production tape entitled, Paul Harris... The Founder of Rotary. During his professional career, Jim has served as Associate Vice President for Academic Programs and Department Chairman and founder of the Department of Theater, California State university, Fullerton. He holds B.S., M.A., and PhD. degrees and has been a communication consultant to Bank of America, Pacific Telephone, prudential Life Insurance and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.

As a member of Rotary, Past Governor, District 5320 and President of the Rotary Club of Fullerton, Jim found himself enjoying portraying the role of Paul Harris. The colorful presentation traces the actual life of the founder of Rotary, Paul Harris, and tells how the international club was established in Chicago around 1905. It show how Paul's environment directed his steps toward the founding of the club and eventually the building of clubs throughout the world. According to Jim, the idea of presenting a monologue of Paul Harris actually started as a suggestion made to him by an associate who said that he was a"look alike" for Paul Harris. He soon started research on the part of the character. A script was developed and a year later the first performance was presented to the Rotary Club of Newport - Balboa. Since that time, Jim has performed the part for audiences throughout the United States. Unable to meet the many requests for his performance, a 26 minute VHS cassette tape (and now DVD disk) was produced so that more audiences could view the presentation. In a recognition statement made by Jonathan Fiske, Rotary International District 5320 Governor said that Jim's performance captures the very essence of Rotary.