Department of Modern Mechanics was established by the meritorious scientist academician TSIEN Hsue-shen, the father of modern Chinese rocketry, in 1958, and he himself was the department chair until 1978. In 1992, the department changed name as Dept. of Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering, but recovered the original name in 2007. The current department chair is Professor HE Linghui, the National Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars.