Robert V. Young, Jr. (born 1947) is a professor of Renaissance Literature and Literary Criticism in the English Department of North Carolina State University,[citation needed] co-founder and co-editor (with M. Thomas Hester) of the John Donne Journal, and author of multiple books and articles primarily related to the study of literature.
He is also a member of and has served as president (1998–1999) of the John Donne Society, receiving its 2002 Award for Distinguished Publication in Donne Studies for his book Doctrine and Devotion in Seventeenth-Century Poetry.
His published essays and public lectures cover a wide variety of moral and religious topics as well as Renaissance, Medieval and twentieth-century literary theory and criticism.
He is particularly well known for his writing on the works of 17th century English poets John Donne, Richard Crashaw, Henry Vaughan, and George Herbert.
[citation needed] He is also a fluent reader and translator of Latin, as well as a convert to the Roman Catholic faith.