Hawk Koch elected Oscars president

Hawk Koch has been named as Academy president (Getty Images)

Source Code producer Hawk Koch has been elected new president of the organisation which stages The Oscars every year.

He will head up the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for one year after being voted into the unpaid role by the group's board.

Koch served as vice president of the Academy in 2011 and is currently also co-president of the Producers Guild of America.

His film credits include Wayne's World, The Way We Were and Chinatown.

Koch, 66, is set to be the 32nd person to serve as president of the Academy, replacing Tom Sherak who has held the position for the last three years.

Although Academy presidents can serve for up to four years, Koch's presidency is limited to just one year because his tenure on the Academy board expires next year.

Koch's father Howard K Koch served as Academy president in the 1970s, which means his son makes history as the first second-generation president in the group's 85 year history.