ANN ARBOR—Chai Yeh, University of Michigan professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering, died Feb. 15 in Davis, Calif. He was 85 years old.

A pioneering researcher in the fields of photonics, fiber optics and solid-state electronics, Yeh was a member of the U-M faculty for 20 years.

Yeh came to Ann Arbor in 1956 as a research engineer at Willow Run Laboratories in Ypsilanti, Mich. In 1961, he joined the faculty as an associate professor of electrical engineering. He was promoted to professor in 1964.

During his career at U-M, Yeh published over 100 papers in scholarly journals and symposium proceedings on radio electronics, microwave electronics, solid-state electronics and opto-electronics. After his retirement in 1981, Yeh published two books, “Handbook on Fiber Optics” (1990) and “Applied Photonics” (1994).

Before joining U-M, Yeh was a visiting professor at the University of Kansas from 1948 to 1956. He was a research engineer at the Radio Research Institute and professor at the Southwestern Associated University in Kumming, China, from 1936 to 1945 and a professor at Tsinghua University in Peking, China, from 1945 to 1947. A native of China, he received his B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Chekiang University in 1932, his M.S. degree in 1934 and his D.Sc. degree in 1936 from Harvard University.

Yeh was a member of the first Distinguished Chinese-American Scholars Delegation to visit China in 1972 and returned many times to serve as adviser to Tsinghua University and Chekiang University. He was appointed an honorary professor of the Shanghai University of Science and Technology in 1980.

He was a member of several professional and honorary societies, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa Nu and Sigma Xi.

Yeh is survived by his wife, Ida of Davis, Calif., two sons and their wives, Yin and Elizabeth Tang Yeh of Davis, Calif., and Jen and Susan Fillin-Yeh of Portland, Ore.; a sister, Jing Guo Yeh of Ann Arbor; three granddaughters, two great grandchildren and a nephew.

A memorial service for Prof. Yeh will take place at 4 p.m. on March 24 in the East Room of Pierpont Commons on the U-M?s North Campus.