Quentin David Young (September 5, 1923 – March 7, 2016) was an American physician who was recognized for his efforts in advocating for single-payer health care in the United States.
An activist who opposed the Vietnam War and worked on the Civil Rights Movement, Young was best known for speaking out about social justice in the realm of health policy.
In May 2006, Young signed on as a plaintiff in a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against AT&T, alleging that the telecommunications company provided its customers' phone records to the United States government without a court-issued warrant.
This suit was part of the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy, during which it was reported that the National Security Agency was maintaining a database of phone calls placed domestically in the United States.
"[8] In November, 2012 at age of 89, Young was the last-minute appointment of his long-time political associate Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn, to displace the Latino incumbent.
The governor's candidate, a former television reporter, won the position with Young's support in a contentious vote of the authority's board despite her demonstrated history of financial mismanagement including filing for personal bankruptcy due to excessive credit card expenditures to luxury retailers such as Bloomingdales.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his appointees had sought to appoint the African American former CFO of Sara Lee Corp, a Yale graduate and criticized the move to install an individual whose incompetence could subject Illinois' taxpayers to significant financial liability[9] Young stayed on the board until 2015.