| Authorised form of name | Kao; Kuen Charles (1933 - 2018) |
| Dates | 1933 - 2018 |
| Nationality | American |
| British |
| Place of birth | Shanghai, China, Asia |
| Date of birth | 04/11/1933 |
| Place of death | Bradbury Hospice, Hong Kong, China, Asia |
| Date of death | 23/09/2018 |
| Occupation | Physicist |
| Research field | Electrical engineering |
| Telecommunications |
| Fibre optics |
| Activity | Education:
Shanghai World School in the Shanghai French Concession; St. Joseph's College, Hong Kong School Certificate (1952); Woolwich Polytechnic (now the University of Greenwich), BE in electrical engineering (1957); University of London, PhD in electrical engineering (1965) Career:
Standard Telephones and Cables , British subsidiary of ITT (1957-1960); transferred to Standard Telecommunication Laboratories, division of STC at Harlow (1960); Head of the electro-optics research group (1963); Manager of of optical communications research (1964-1970); Reader later Professor, Department of Electronics, Chinese University of Hong Kong (1970-1974); Chief Scientist, electro-optical products division in Roanoke, Virginia, ITT (1974); Director of Engineering (1983); Executive scientist and Director of research at the ITT Advanced Tech Center in Shelton, Connecticut (1983-1987); Vice-Chancellor and President, Chinese University of Hong Kong (1987-1996); Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Transtech, Hong Kong (1996-20011); Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, ITX Services (2000); diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (2004); founded the Charles K. Kao Foundation for Alzheimer’s Disease Limited (2010)
Medals and prizes:
Nobel Prize (Physics) 2009
Honours:
CBE 1993; KBE 2010 |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 15/05/1997 |
| Age at election | 63 |
| Relationships | PhD supervised by Harold Everard Monteagle Barlow (FRS 1961); son of Kao Chun-Hsiang, lawyer; grandson of scholar and artist Gao Xie; married (1959) Gwen May-Wan Wong; one son and one daughter |
| PublishedWorks | https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n80133626/ |
| OtherInfo | Charles Kao was a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and electrical engineer who was widely known as the father of fibre optic communications. Through his pioneering techniques to purify glass fibres in order to reduce signal loss, he helped bring about the infrastructure required to support the Information Age.
Charles first observed the potential of glass filaments to allow for long-distance signal transfer in 1966 and has worked tirelessly to improve their effectiveness and reliability. His vision and determination allowed him to overcome the numerous materials and engineering challenges surrounding the development of fibre optics, and resulted in the birth of a multibillion pound global industry.
Awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics, Charles was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the same year. The recipient of numerous international awards and honorary doctorates, he also held the Grand Bauhinia Medal, the highest award bestowed by the city of Hong Kong.
Sir Charles Kao KBE FREng FRS died on 23 September 2018. |
| Source | Sources:
Wikipedia; Encyclopaedia Britannica; PIF; Royal Society Profile, https://royalsociety.org/people/kuen-kao-11723/ (Accessed 26 November 2020)
References:
Charles K. Kao – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2020. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2009/kao/facts/ (Accessed 26 November 2020)
Kao, Charles (2010) 'A Time and a Tide: a memoir' (Hong Kong) |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/108655501 |
| Code | NA4467 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| EC/1997/15 | Kao, Kuen Charles: certificate of election to the Royal Society | 1996 |
| IM/002473 | Kao, Kuen Charles | nd |