Henry T. Yang

Henry Tzu-Yow Yang (Chinese: 楊祖佑) was named the fifth chancellor of the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1994. He was formerly the Neil A. Armstrong Distinguished Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University, where he also served as the dean of engineering for ten years. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

He holds a B.S. degree in civil engineering from National Taiwan University, a master's degree in structural engineering from West Virginia University, and a Ph.D. in structural engineering from Cornell University, as well as honorary doctorates from Purdue University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, National Taiwan University, City University of Hong Kong and The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is a recipient of the Benjamin Garver Lamme medal from the American Society of Engineering Education and the 2008 Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Dr. Yang has served on scientific advisory boards for the Department of Defense, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, NASA, and the National Academy of Engineering. He is currently the chair of the Association of American Universities and the Association of Pacific Rim Universities. He also serves on the President’s Committee for the National Medal of Science and the Kavli Foundation board, and is chairman of the board for the Thirty Meter Telescope project. In July 2009 he was appointed to the UC Commission on the Future, co-chaired by UC Board of Regents Chairman Russell Gould and President Mark Yudof.

Dr. Yang specializes in aerospace structures, structural dynamics, composite materials, finite elements, transonic aeroelasticity, wind and earthquake structural engineering, and intelligent manufacturing systems. He has authored or co-authored 170 articles for scientific journals, as well as a widely used textbook on finite element structural analysis. He has guided 52 Ph.D. and 20 M.S. recipients. In addition to his role as chancellor, he is also a professor of mechanical engineering at UC Santa Barbara, and continues to teach an undergraduate engineering course each year. He is currently supervising four Ph.D. students with support from National Science Foundation grants. He is also a co-principal investigator for the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program of the University of California.

References

UCSB Chancellor's Office
UCSB Mechanical Engineering Department