Young, M. Norvel (Matt Norvel), 1915-

Biographical note

Matt Norvel Young Jr. (more commonly referred to as M. Norvel or just Norvel Young) was born on October 5, 1915, in Nashville, Tennessee. His parents were Matt Norvel Young and Mary Ruby Morrow Young, and Norvel was the second of two children in the family (his brother Stephen Franklin Young, commonly referred to as Franklin, was born on July 21, 1909). Norvel went to school at Hume-Fogg High School in Nashville, the same school his mother went to. He attended David Lipscomb College and received an A.A. degree in 1934 before moving on to Abilene Christian College where he was student body president his senior year. He graduated from Abilene Christian College in 1936 and went on to receive a master’s degree in English literature from Vanderbilt University in 1937.

After taking a seven month world tour following his graduation, Norvel accepted a teaching position at George Pepperdine College for the fall of 1938. While teaching history at Pepperdine, Norvel met Helen Elizabeth Mattox (a senior at Pepperdine studying business), and the two married on August 31, 1939. Just before their marriage, Norvel spent the summer taking classes at Columbia University in New York. Norvel and Helen left Pepperdine for Nashville, Tennessee, in 1941 so they could pursue advanced degrees at George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. They lived with Norvel's parents while in Nashville. Norvel graduated with his doctorate in 1943, and Helen completed a master's degree in sociology. Norvel preached at the College Church of Christ while in Nashville.

Following their studies in Nashville, the Youngs moved to Lubbock, Texas in 1944 when Norvel accepted a position as a preacher at the Broadway Church of Christ. They stayed there for 13 years and during this time Norvel oversaw construction of a new church building and led a post-World War II relief effort that raised half a million dollars to send care packages to Germany and other parts of Europe. The Youngs’ involvement in charity also included their co-founding of the Children’s Home of Lubbock. Norvel’s career in the church led to him co-founding and editing two magazines, 20th Century Christian (in 1938) and Power for Today (in 1955, along with Helen), as well as editing Germany For Christ for a decade. One rarely mentioned activity was Norvel’s time as the “master of ceremonies” for the Family Bible Quiz television program taped in Lubbock from 1952-1957.

Norvel traveled abroad frequently for speeches, preaching, and vacations. He lectured in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1949 and 1956 and went to Tokyo, Japan, in 1959. He preached in the former U.S.S.R. in 1961 and assisted in a Bible campaign in London, England in 1963, (his son came along as well for this trip and wrote about the experience). He served as a coordinator for the American-Russian Writers Conference in the 1980s, traveling to Moscow multiple times for the conference.

In 1956, Norvel helped found Lubbock Christian College with the help of Helen’s brother F.W. (Fount William) Mattox who served as president. The following year, 1957, Norvel and Helen moved back to Southern California after Norvel was appointed the third president of George Pepperdine College following Hugh Tiner’s retirement.

The Youngs were instrumental in changing and adding to Pepperdine. Norvel was President from 1957 to 1971, and then Chancellor from 1971 to 1984, after which he took the title of Chancellor Emeritus. During his tenure, Pepperdine went from being a college with 950 students to a university with 9,500 students. One of the largest changes was the move from the 34-acre site on 79th Street and Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles to the 830-acre site in Malibu in 1972. He opened new graduate programs in various disciplines: business (now the Graziadio School of Business and Management), the Graduate School of Education and Psychology, and the law school. Satellite campuses in Los Angeles and Orange Counties and the San Fernando Valley were opened for distance learners. Norvel opened a residential campus in Heidelberg, Germany, in 1963 and started the study abroad program that approximately 60% of students now participate in.

During the mid-1970s, Norvel began to depend on alcohol to reduce stress (drinking was frowned upon by the Churches of Christ, and is now prohibited on campus). He took a leave of absence as chancellor after pleading guilty to vehicular manslaughter, following a car wreck in which two women were killed after he rear-ended their car while intoxicated. His probation was controversial because it required his participation in a research study on drunken driving accidents and to give speeches about drunk driving rather than going to jail.

Throughout his career, Norvel was dedicated to serving businesses and the community as a board member of multiple institutions, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Forest Lawn Memorial Parks, Los Angeles Philanthropic Foundation, Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, and others. Governor Ronald Reagan appointed Norvel to California’s Coordinating Council for Higher Education from 1970 to 1974.

The Youngs continued to be very involved with Pepperdine after Norvel’s retirement, including working with the Pepperdine Associates for fundraising. Norvel died February 17, 1998 in his on-campus home. He was survived by his wife Helen and their four children, Emily, Matt, Marilyn, and Sara.

Helen Elizabeth Mattox was born on August 31, 1918, in Bristow, Oklahoma, and grew up in Oklahoma City. She was the sixth of seven children of Judge Perry Mattox and Irene Corrine Young Mattox (her other siblings were Marguerite, Joseph, Fount William, Paul, Kathryn, and Frank). She attended Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, for two years before finishing her degree at George Pepperdine College. She attended the first year Pepperdine was open, majored in business, and graduated in 1939. While at Pepperdine, she met her future husband Norvel Young, and the two married August 31, 1939. She moved with him to Nashville, Tennessee, and completed a master's in sociology while Norvel finished his doctorate degree. They later moved to Lubbock, Texas, where their four children were born (Emily, born on February 26, 1945; Matt III, born on October 19, 1947; Marilyn, born on June 8, 1952; and Sara, born on August 18, 1953). The family moved to Los Angeles while Norvel worked at Pepperdine, and then moved to Malibu when the campus moved locations.

When the campus moved to Malibu, the Young family lived in the historical Adamson House (now a museum, the former home of the founders of present-day Malibu) for 13 years. In 1958, Helen founded the Associated Women for Pepperdine, a fundraising organization, which still exists on campus. She was also a staff member of the first incarnation of the Graphic, the school’s newspaper and longest-running student organization. Helen still lives on the Pepperdine Campus (as of 2012).

Biographical information was taken from collection materials, newspaper articles, and the Pepperdine University website. Extra information about Helen Young was taken from the Pepperdine University Graphic (http://graphic.pepperdine.edu/news/2007/2007-11-08-matriarch.htm) and conversations with her.

From the guide to the M. Norvel and Helen Young papers, 1900s-2000s, 1759, 1882, 1900s-2000s, (Pepperdine University. Special Collections and University Archives.)