Former AOL chief Jonathan Miller was widely expected to join Yahoo's board of directors under the terms of a truce between the Internet company and its most rambunctious investor, Carl Icahn, the San Jose Mercury News reported on Wednesday.

Under Icahn's agreement with Yahoo on Monday, Icahn has dropped his proxy campaign to oust the company's entire board. In exchange, Yahoo said it will name Icahn and two others, from a list of his nominees, as new directors next month.

Miller's name was added to the list after Icahn submitted his original slate of board candidates, giving rise to speculation that Miller is certain to be one of the new appointees, according to the paper.

The 51-year-old Miller, currently a partner at tech investment firm Velocity Interactive, was unceremoniously dumped from his AOL post in 2006. But he is widely credited with turning things around at AOL, another once-pioneering Internet business that was beginning to founder when Miller took the reins in 2002.

Miller's credentials as a seasoned Internet executive have led some analysts to view him as a possible successor for Yahoo chief Jerry Yang, whom Icahn previously vowed to fire, the report said.

Others say Miller could help Yang steer the company through key changes or significant deals, such as one with Time Warner's AOL, in the months to come.

Yang's future may not be in immediate jeopardy. A majority of Yahoo's board will be the same directors who have backed Yang against Icahn's attacks in recent months, according to the paper.

But analysts said Miller could nonetheless help Yahoo develop new strategies and challenge the current management's thinking.

Miller joined AOL after previously running USA Information and Services, now IAC/Interactive, which owned Ticketmaster, Citysearch,Match.com and other companies. Before that, the Harvard graduate had been an executive at Nickelodeon International.