By Melissa Weckerle

Digital artist and Baskin Engineering alumnus David Young (Crown ‘86, computer and information science) began his journey at UC Santa Cruz in the early 1980s intent on approaching his undergraduate education through an interdisciplinary lens.

At the time, the computer and information science program only offered a bachelor of arts degree, which allowed Young to learn about computer science while also exploring fields far removed from science and technology.

“I knew UC Santa Cruz was going to be a great place to explore different academic pursuits,” he said. “A couple years before I arrived, I had just acquired a personal Apple II Plus computer, which was still a pretty unusual thing. The idea of exploring what I could do with that technology by being in the computer science program was exciting.”