Yong Wang graduated from South West Jiao Tong University in China in 1984 and was awarded a British Council Scholarship. He came to the UK in 1985 and earned his PhD in Structural Engineering from the University of Sheffield in 1988. He worked for eight years at the Building Research Establishment (including as a core member of the BRE team that carrid out the Cardington structural fire tests) prior to joining the University of Manchester in 1997. His main research interests are structural and fire engineering, steel and composite structures and fire protection materials and systems. He is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers and the UK's Higher Education Academy.

He is the Leader of the Structural & Fire Engineering theme.