The appointment makes sense of Yelland's departure from UK tabloid The Sun at the beginning of the year and his subsequent move to Harvard Business School to attend a three-month advanced management programme.
Yelland will work in the chairman's office alongside Lachlan Murdoch, deputy chief operating officer at News Corp.
The Sun is now being edited by former News of the World editor Rebekah Wade, who took over from Yelland as soon as his departure was announced.
Yelland joined The Sun in 1998 after a spell working as deputy editor on News Corp-owned The New York Post. In his five years at The Sun, Yelland scored some notable firsts including the story of Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones's engagement. Subsequently, he published a topless photograph of Rhys-Jones, which caused a storm.
Yelland was a popular editor of The Sun. Earlier this year, he was named by ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 as the Media Achiever of the Year. According to the judges: "Yelland has shown that he can respond when necessary but everyone has been impressed by the calm and measured way he has carried himself. Across much of this year, it has indeed seemed like a man against boys where the cut and thrust of the newspaper market is concerned. In a difficult year for the newspaper industry, one man stood head and shoulders above the rest."
In a separate announcement, News Corp has also revealed changes to its board.
Rupert Murdoch is standing down from the group's nominating committee and its share option committee.
Stanley Shuman, a non-executive director and managing director of investment bank Allen & Co, resigned from the audit committee. Graham Kraehe, another non-executive director and managing director and chairman of BHP Steel, is taking up its chairmanship.
Three non-executives, Geoffrey Bible, Kenneth Cowley and Rod Eddington, chief executive of British Airways, make a newly formed nominating and corporate governance and oversight committee.
The company's share option committee is being replaced by a compensation committee comprising board members Andrew Knight, Thomas Perkins and Aatos Erkko.
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