In a statement Friday, the institute said the academician, who is now the chancellor of the University of California at Santa Barbara, took over the new position on Oct. 20.

According to the statement, UC Santa Barbara was invited to join the AAU during Yang's tenure as chancellor. He has been a member of the AAU's executive committee since 2005.

Yang was elected as an academician of Academia Sinica in 1992. He is also a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and a member of the U.S. President's Committee for the nomination of the National Medal of Science.

Yang, an expert in automotive and aeronautics engineering who did his undergraduate degree at National Taiwan University, was the Neil A. Armstrong Distinguished Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University from 1988 to 1994 and received the AIAA Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials Award in 2008.