[1] He served as president of Hunan University from 1993 to 1999 and is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Yu was born in Shanghai, but was raised in Changsha, Hunan, his hometown.
After graduation, he worked at the Institute of Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
At the same time, he taught at the University of Science and Technology of China.
He was a member of the 6th, 8th, and 9th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.