UC Santa Barbara chancellor emeritus and mechanical engineering professor Henry T. Yang is among three UCSB faculty who were elected as new members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for 2026. Yang is joined by Alice Alldredge, an emeritus professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology (EEMB); professor of astrophysics Lars Bildsten; and 249 other new members of the 2026 cohort, each a leader in academia, the arts, industry, journalism, philanthropy, policy, research, or science. The first cohort of AAAS, which was chartered in 1780, included George Washington.

In addition to having occupied the chancellor's office at UCSB for thirty-one years, Yang is also a distinguished professor of mechanical engineering with particular research expertise in solid mechanics, materials and structures, dynamic systems and control, and micro and nanotechnology, as well as 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 more than 190 articles for scientific journals, as well as a widely used textbook on finite element structural analysis.

Yang is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Society for Engineering Education and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Since stepping down as chancellor in 2025, he has returned to teaching full-time, although he continued to teach a class in mechanical engineering every year for the duration of his tenure as chancellor.

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