HomeDate: 2026-02-25
Academician Ralph T. Yang passed away in the United States on January 27, 2026, at the age of 84.
Academician Yang was an internationallyrenowned chemical engineer specializing inadsorption and separation science. Hedevoted his career to adsorption theory,materials design, and process engineering. Hedeveloped high-performance nanostructured adsorbents for transportation fuel desulfurization, air and organic separations,and hydrogen storage. His work significantly advanced separation technologies for energyand environmental applications and had a lasting impact on catalysis and carbon materials research. His monograph, Gas Separation by Adsorption Processes, was widely translated and recognized during the centennial celebration of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers as one of the most influential books in the field.
Dr. Yang received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Yale University in 1971. In 1974, he joined Brookhaven National Laboratory as a Group Leader. Beginning in 1978, he served on the faculty of the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he became Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering in 1989. In 1995, he was appointed Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan, serving until 2000. He subsequently held the John B. Fenn Distinguished University Professorship of Engineering and the Dwight F. Benton Professorship of Chemical Engineering. From 2007 onward, he served as Lee Kwoh- Ting Chair Professor at National Central University and made sustained contributions to the advancement of science and technology and to science education in Taiwan.
Dr. Yang was elected a Member of the U.S.National Academy of Engineering and a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and received the Distinguished Alumni Award from National Taiwan University. His honors include the Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award from the University of Michigan, the SGL Carbon Award from the American Carbon Society, the William H. Walker Award for Excellence in Contributions to Chemical Engineering Literature, the Institute Award for Excellence in Industrial Gases Technology, and the Clarence Gerhold Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He was elected Academician of Academia Sinica in 2008.
