Shang Fa Yang

Yang died on February 12, 2007 in a Davis hospital from complications of pneumonia.

Yang received several awards and honours for his research. In 1990, he was inducted into the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. In 1991, he was awarded the Wolf Prize in Agriculture "for his remarkable contributions to the understanding of the mechanism of biosynthesis, mode of action and applications of the plant hormone, Ethylene." In 1992, he was awarded the American Society of Horticultural Science Outstanding Research Award. Yang has been recognized as a Pioneer Member of the American Society of Plant Biologists.

He was the first scientist to report S-adenosylmethionine as an intermediate in methionine conversion to ethylene. Then, in 1979, he discovered aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) as an intermediate. His discovery of ACC-synthase opened the way to the understanding of the regulating process of ethylene biosynthesis.

After completing his PhD, he conducted postdoctoral research at the University of California, Davis, New York Medical School, and University of California, San Diego. He joined the faculty University of California, Davis in 1966.

Shang Fa Yang (Chinese: 楊祥發; pinyin: Yáng Xiángfā; November 10, 1932 – February 12, 2007) was a Taiwanese-American plant scientist and a professor at the University of California, Davis. He was awarded the Wolf Prize in Agriculture and elected a member of the US National Academy of Sciences.

Yang was born in 1932 in Taiwan. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in agricultural chemistry at the National Taiwan University. He subsequently moved to the United States and completed his doctoral degree in plant biochemistry from Utah State University.