Becker Team

Who We Are

Donna Keuck Becker, MAT, PhD

Donna founded Becker Academic, LLC, 2002, with a vision and a distinctive method for helping students and their parents make outstanding college matches.

That vision is based, in part, on her own experiences at the full range of American options in higher education, including liberal arts colleges, a large public university and a premier private research university.

She earned a bachelor’s degree from the experimental Callison College at the University of the Pacific (UOP). As an undergraduate, she also studied at Sophia University (Jochi Daigaku) in Tokyo and at Taiwan National University (Shih Fan Ta Hsueh) in Taipei.

She holds a masters degree in teaching (MAT) from the Benerd School of Education, UOP, and a masters degree in sociology from Ohio State University.  Donna completed her doctoral work in sociology at Cornell University.

During seven years as a faculty member at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Donna taught twelve different courses, including sociology of family, juvenile delinquency, research methods and sociology of art and culture. She advised dozens of students and worked with the residence life staff in pioneering campus safety programs.  She also has considerable experience as a community activist and an exhibiting artist.

Committed to the healthy development of teens and emerging adults in a multicultural society, Donna is a member of the American Sociological Association and NAFSA: Association for International Educators.  Most of her domestic travel involves visits to liberal arts colleges, where she enjoys conversing with admissions counselors, sampling the cafeteria cuisine, seeing campus art exhibits and attending student recitals. 

She resides in a wooded corner of Baltimore County with her mother, her husband Christopher H. Young (see below), and their companion animals.  Donna’s personal interests include kayaking, snowshoeing, making high-fire ceramic tiles and vegetarian cooking. She is an active volunteer with the Historical Society of Baltimore County.

Christopher H. Young, PhD

Chris Young earned his doctoral degree in sociology from Cornell University in 1991. He has published extensively in the areas of regional economics, organizational behavior and health policy. He has led research teams in both academia and business. In the roles of field supervisor and research director, he has had the opportunity to mentor dozens of individuals during their entry into the work force.

After fifteen years of employment in the private sector, Chris has recently taken the position of Principal Research Scientist at the American College of Cardiology Foundation in Washington, DC. 

He serves as senior research associate of Becker Academic, LLC, conducting analyses of educational institutions and partnering with Donna in conducting the family workshop, Getting Out. He also performs various other organizational functions. 

Chris and Donna met more than twenty-five years ago, as graduate students in the sociology department at Cornell. In his spare time, Chris enjoys kayaking, online chess, playing bluegrass on his guitar and reading contemporary international fiction.