TSMC has named Chiang as its senior vice president of research and development (R&D). He will report directly to Morris Chang, TSMC's chairman and chief executive.

At the same time, TSMC has named its previous R&D vice president, Wei-Jen Lo, as its vice president of the Advanced Technology Business. Lo will report to Mark Liu, senior vice president of Advanced Technology Business.

"Dr. Shang-Yi Chiang first joined TSMC as vice president of R&D in 1997, and successfully led the R&D team through the 0.25-micron, 0.18-micron, 0.13-micron, 90-nm, and 65-nm generations," said Chang in a statement.

"However, he left TSMC temporarily three years ago to take care of his ailing father. Now that his father has passed away, he has returned to TSMC and will resume the responsibility of working with the rest of the executive team to maintain TSMC's leadership in technology development and manufacturing excellence,'' Chang said. ''I am confident that Dr. Chiang will continue to make significant contributions to TSMC's future development."