Charles K.

Kao

Sir Charles Kuen Kao GBM KBE FRS

FREng[6][7][8][9][10] (4 November 1933 – 23
September 2018) was an electrical
engineer and physicist who pioneered the
development and use of fibre optics in
telecommunications. In the 1960s, Kao
created various methods to combine glass
fibres with lasers in order to transmit
digital data, which laid the groundwork for
the evolution of the Internet.
 The Honourable Sir

Charles K. Kao
GBM KBE FRS FREng

⾼錕

Charles K. Kao receiving an honorary degree

from Princeton University in 2004

Born Charles Kuen Kao

4 November 1933
Shanghai, Republic of
China[1]
Died 23 September 2018
(aged 84)
Sha Tin, Hong Kong

Citizenship United Kingdom[1]

United States

Alma mater University College

London[2] (PhD 1965,
issued by University
of London[1])
Woolwich Polytechnic
(BSc 1957, issued by
University of London )

Known for Fibre optics

Fibre-optic
communication

Awards Stuart Ballantine

Medal (1977)
IEEE Morris N.
Liebmann Memorial
Award (1978)
IEEE Alexander
Graham Bell Medal
(1985)
Marconi Prize (1985)
C&C Prize (1987)
Faraday Medal (1989)
James C. McGroddy
Prize for New
Materials (1989)
FREng[3] (1989)
SPIE Gold Medal
(1992)
CBE (1992)
Prince Philip Medal
(1996)
Japan Prize (1996)
3463 Kaokuen (1996)
FRS (1997)[4]
Charles Stark Draper
Prize (1999)
Asian of the Century
(1999)
Nobel Prize in Physics
(2009)
Grand Bauhinia Medal
(2010)
KBE (2010)
 Scientific career

Fields Physics

Institutions Chinese University of

Hong Kong
Standard Telephones
and Cables
ITT Corporation
Yale University

Doctoral advisor Harold Barlow

 Charles K. Kao
Traditional Chinese ⾼錕

Simplified Chinese ⾼锟

Transcriptions

Standard Mandarin

Hanyu Pinyin Gāo Kūn

Wade–Giles Kao1 K'un1

IPA [káu kʰwə́n]

Yue: Cantonese

Jyutping Gou1 Kwan1

IPA [kóu kʷʰɐ́n]
Born in Shanghai, Kao grew up in Taiwan
and Hong Kong before moving to London
to study electrical engineering. In the
1960s he worked at Standard
Telecommunication Laboratories, the
research centre of Standard Telephones
and Cables in Harlow, and it was here in
1966 that he laid the groundwork for fibre
optics in communication.[11] Known as the
"Godfather of Broadband",[12] the "Father
of Fiber Optics",[13][14][15][16][17] and the
"Father of Fiber Optic Communications",[18]
Kao was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in
Physics for "groundbreaking achievements
concerning the transmission of light in
fibers for optical communication".[19] In
2010 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth
II for “services to fibre optic
communications”.[20]

A permanent resident of Hong Kong[21]

Kao held citizenships in the United
Kingdom and the United States.[1]

Early life and education

Charles Kao was born in Shanghai in
1933,[22]:1 and his ancestral home is in
nearby Jinshan,[22]:13 at that time a
separate administrative area.[23][24] He
studied Chinese classics at home with his
brother, under a tutor.[5][22]:41 He also
studied English and French at the
Shanghai World School ( 上海世界學校) in
the Shanghai French Concession[25] which
was founded by a number of progressive
Chinese educators including Cai
Yuanpei.[26]

Kao's family moved to Taiwan and then

British Hong Kong in 1948[22]:1[27] where he
completed his secondary education (Hong
Kong School Certificate Examination, a
predecessor of HKCEE[28])[29] at St.
Joseph's College in 1952. He did his
undergraduate studies in electrical
engineering at Woolwich Polytechnic (now
the University of Greenwich),[30] obtaining
his Bachelor of Engineering degree.[22]:1
He then pursued research and received his
PhD in electrical engineering in 1965 from
University of London, under Professor
Harold Barlow of University College
London as an external student while
working at Standard Telecommunication
Laboratories (STL) in Harlow, England, the
research centre of Standard Telephones
and Cables.[2] It is there that Kao did his
first groundbreaking work as an engineer
and researcher working alongside George
Hockham under the supervision of Alec
Reeves.

Ancestry and family …

Kao's father Kao Chun-Hsiang ( ⾼君
湘) [22]:13 was a lawyer who obtained his
Juris Doctor from the University of
Michigan Law School in 1925.[31] He was a
professor at Soochow University (then in
Shanghai) Comparative Law School of
China.[32][33]

His grandfather Gao Xie was a scholar,

poet, artist,[5] and a leading figure of the
South Society during the late Qing
Dynasty.[34] Several writers including Gao
Xu, Yao Guang ( 姚光), and Gao Zeng (⾼增)
were also Gao's close relatives.
His father's cousin was astronomer Kao
Ping-tse[5][35] (Kao crater is named after
him[36]). Kao's younger brother Timothy Wu
Kao ( ⾼鋙) is a civil engineer and
Professor Emeritus at the Catholic
University of America in Washington, D.C.
His research is in hydrodynamics.[37]

Kao met his future wife Gwen May-Wan

Kao (née Wong; ⿈美芸) in London after
graduation, when they worked together as
engineers at Standard Telephones and
Cables.[22]:23[38] She is British
Chinese.[22]:17 They were married in 1959
in London,[22]:15–17[39] and had a son and a
daughter,[39] both of whom reside and
work in Silicon Valley, California.[12][38][40]
According to Kao's autobiography, Kao
was a Catholic who attended Catholic
Church while his wife attended Anglican
Communion.[22]:14–15

Academic career

Fibre optics and communications …

A bundle of silica glass fibres for optical

communication, which are the de facto worldwide
communication, which are the de facto worldwide
standard. Kao also first publicly suggested that silica
glass of high purity is an ideal material for long range
optical communication.[41]

In the 1960s at Standard

Telecommunication Laboratories (STL)
based in Harlow, Essex, England, Kao and
his co-workers did their pioneering work in
the realisation of fibre optics as a
telecommunications medium, by
demonstrating that the high-loss of
existing fibre optics arose from impurities
in the glass, rather than from an underlying
problem with the technology itself.[42]
In 1963, when Kao first joined the optical
communications research team he made
notes summarising the background[43]
situation and available technology at the
time, and identifying the key individuals[43]
involved. Initially Kao worked in the team
of Antoni E. Karbowiak (Toni Karbowiak),
who was working under Alec Reeves to
study optical waveguides for
communications. Kao's task was to
investigate fibre attenuation, for which he
collected samples from different fibre
manufacturers and also investigated the
properties of bulk glasses carefully. Kao's
study primarily convinced himself that the
impurities in material caused the high light
losses of those fibres.[44] Later that year,
Kao was appointed head of the electro-
optics research group at STL.[45] He took
over the optical communication program
of STL in December 1964, because his
supervisor, Karbowiak, left to take the
Chair in Communications in the School of
Electrical Engineering at the University of
New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney,
Australia.[46]

Although Kao succeeded Karbowiak as

manager of optical communications
research, he immediately decided to
abandon Karbowiak's plan (thin-film
waveguide) and overall change research
direction with his colleague George
Hockham.[44][46] They not only considered
optical physics but also the material
properties. The results were first
presented by Kao to the IEE in January
1966 in London, and further published in
July with George Hockham (1964–1965
worked with Kao).[47][a] This study first
theorized and proposed to use glass fibres
to implement optical communication, the
ideas (especially structural features and
materials) described are largely the basis
of today's optical fibre communications.

In 1965,[45][49][b] Kao with

"What Kao
did in Hockham concluded that
Harlow the fundamental limitation
transformed for glass light attenuation
the world
is below 20 dB/km
and
(decibels per kilometer, is a
provided a
measure of the attenuation
backbone
for the of a signal over a distance),
internet. He which is a key threshold
was the value for optical
father of communications.[50]
fibre optics."
However, at the time of this
—Harlow determination, optical
Museum's fibres commonly exhibited
David
light loss as high as
Devine on
1,000 dB/km and even
Kao’s
pioneering
more. This conclusion
work in fibre opened the intense race to
optics at find low-loss materials and
STC’s suitable fibres for reaching
Standard
such criteria.
Telecommu
nication Kao, together with his new
Laboratorie
team (members including
s in
T. W. Davies, M. W. Jones,
Harlow.[48]
and C. R. Wright), pursued
this goal by testing various
materials. They precisely measured the
attenuation of light with different
wavelengths in glasses and other
materials. During this period, Kao pointed
out that the high purity of fused silica
(SiO2) made it an ideal candidate for
optical communication. Kao also stated
that the impurity of glass material is the
main cause for the dramatic decay of light
transmission inside glass fibre, rather than
fundamental physical effects such as
scattering as many physicists thought at
that time, and such impurity could be
removed. This led to a worldwide study
and production of high-purity glass
fibres.[51] When Kao first proposed that
such glass fibre could be used for long-
distance information transfer and could
replace copper wires which were used for
telecommunication during that era, his
ideas were widely disbelieved; later people
realized that Kao's ideas revolutionized the
whole communication technology and
industry.[52]

He also played a leading role in the early

stage of engineering and commercial
realization of optical communication.[53] In
spring 1966, Kao traveled to the U.S. but
failed to interest Bell Labs, which was a
competitor of STL in communication
technology at that time.[54] He
subsequently traveled to Japan and gained
support.[54] Kao visited many glass and
polymer factories, discussed with various
people including engineers, scientists,
businessmen about the techniques and
improvement of glass fiber manufacture.
In 1969, Kao with M. W. Jones measured
the intrinsic loss of bulk-fused silica at
4 dB/km, which is the first evidence of
ultra-transparent glass. Bell Labs started
considering fibre optics seriously.[54]

Kao developed important techniques and

configurations for glass fibre waveguides,
and contributed to the development of
different fibre types and system devices
which met both civil and military[c]
application requirements, and peripheral
supporting systems for optical fiber
communication.[53] In mid-1970s, he did
seminal work on glass fiber fatigue
strength.[53] When named the first ITT
Executive Scientist, Kao launched the
"Terabit Technology" program in
addressing the high frequency limits of
signal processing, so Kao is also known as
the "Father of the Terabit Technology
Concept".[53][55] Kao has published more
than 100 papers and was granted over 30
patents,[53] including the water-resistant
high-strength fibers (with M. S. Maklad).[56]

At an early stage of developing optic

fibres, Kao already strongly preferred
single mode for long-distance optical
communication, instead of using multi-
mode systems. His vision later was
followed and now is applied almost
exclusively.[51][57] Kao was also a visionary
of modern submarine communications
cables and largely promoted this idea. He
predicted in 1983 that world's seas would
be littered with fibre optics, five years
ahead of the time that such a trans-
oceanic fibre-optic cable first became
serviceable.[58]

Ali Javan's introduction of a steady

helium–neon laser and Kao's discovery of
fibre light-loss properties now are
recognized as the two essential
milestones for the development of fiber-
optic communications.[46]
Later work …

Kao joined the Chinese University of Hong

Kong (CUHK) in 1970 to found the
Department of Electronics, which later
became the Department of Electronic
Engineering. During this period, Kao was
the reader and then the chair Professor of
Electronics at CUHK; he built up both
undergraduate and graduate study
programmes of electronics and oversaw
the graduation of his first students. Under
his leadership, the School of Education
and other new research institutes were
established. He returned to ITT
Corporation in 1974 (the parent
corporation of STC at that time) in the
United States and worked in Roanoke,
Virginia, first as Chief Scientist and later as
Director of Engineering. In 1982, he
became the first ITT Executive Scientist
and was stationed mainly at the Advanced
Technology Center in Connecticut.[16]
While there, he served as an adjunct
professor and Fellow of Trumbull College
at Yale University. In 1985, Kao spent one
year in West Germany, at the SEL Research
Centre. In 1986, Kao was the Corporate
Director of Research at ITT.

He was one of the earliest to study the

environmental effects of land reclamation
in Hong Kong, and presented one of his
first related studies at the conference of
the Association of Commonwealth
Universities (ACU) in Edinburgh in 1972.[59]

Kao was the vice-chancellor of the

Chinese University of Hong Kong from
1987 to 1996.[60] From 1991, Kao was an
Independent Non-Executive Director and a
member of the Audit Committee of the
Varitronix International Limited in Hong
Kong.[61][62] From 1993 to 1994, he was the
President of the Association of Southeast
Asian Institutions of Higher Learning
(ASAIHL).[63] In 1996, Kao donated to Yale
University, and the Charles Kao Fund
Research Grants was established to
support Yale's studies, research and
creative projects in Asia.[64] The fund
currently is managed by Yale University
Councils on East Asian and Southeast
Asian Studies.[65] After his retirement from
CUHK in 1996, Kao spent his six-month
sabbatical leave at the Imperial College
London Department of Electrical and
Electronic Engineering; from 1997 to 2002,
he also served as visiting professor in the
same department.[66]

Kao was chairman and member of the

Energy Advisory Committee (EAC) of Hong
Kong for two years, and retired from the
position on July 15, 2000.[67][68] Kao was a
Member of the Council of Advisors on
Innovation and Technology of Hong Kong,
appointed on April 20, 2000.[69] In 2000,
Kao co-founded the Independent Schools
Foundation Academy, which is located in
Cyberport, Hong Kong.[70] He was its
founding Chairman in 2000, and stepped
down from the Board of the ISF in
December 2008.[70] Kao was the keynote
speaker at IEEE GLOBECOM 2002 in
Taipei, Taiwan.[71] In 2003, Kao was named
a Chair Professor by special appointment
at the Electronics Institute of the College
of Electrical Engineering and Computer
Science, National Taiwan University.[71]
Kao then worked as the chairman and CEO
of Transtech Services Ltd., a
telecommunication consultancy in Hong
Kong. He was the founder, chairman and
CEO of ITX Services Limited. From 2003 to
January 30, 2009, Kao was an independent
non-executive director and member of the
audit committee of Next Media.[72][73]

Honours and awards

Kao received numerous honours and
awards, including the Nobel Prize in
Physics.[74]

Honours …
 1993: A Commander of the Most
Excellent Order of the British Empire
(CBE).[75]
2010: A Knight Commander of the Most
Excellent Order of the British Empire
(KBE).[8][76]
2010: The Grand Bauhinia Medal (GBM),
Hong Kong SAR.[7]

Society and academy recognition …

Life Fellow, Institute of Electrical and

Electronics Engineers, USA (1979
election)[77]
Fellow, The Institution of Engineering
and Technology, UK
Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society
(FRS) in 1997[4]
Fellow,[3] The Royal Academy of
Engineering,[3] UK (1989 election)
Fellow, The Marconi Society, USA (1985
election)
Honorary Fellow (1994 election) and
former President, The Hong Kong
Academy of Engineering Sciences
(HKAES), Hong Kong[78][79]
Distinguished Fellow, The Hong Kong
Computer Society, Hong Kong (1989
election)[80][81]
Honorary Fellow, The Hong Kong
Institute of Engineers (1994 election)[82]
Academician, Academia Sinica,
Taipei[83] (1992 election)
Member, Optical Society of America,
USA[84]
Member, European Academy of
Sciences and Arts, Austria
Member, United States National
Academy of Engineering (1990
election)[85][d]
Foreign Member, Royal Swedish
Academy of Engineering Sciences,
Sweden (1988 election)
Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Beijing (1996 election)
Fellow, Trumbull College of Yale
University
Honorary Fellow, The Queen Mary,
University of London[86]
Honorary Professor, Chinese University
of Hong Kong (appointed in 1996)[87]
Honorary Professor, Peking University,
Beijing (appointed in 1995)
Honorary Professor, Tsinghua University,
Beijing (appointed in 1995)
Honorary Professor, Beijing University of
International Business and Economics,
Beijing (appointed in 1995)
Honorary Professor, Beijing University of
Posts and Telecommunications
 (appointed in 1995)
Chair Professor by special appointment,
National Taiwan University, Taipei
(appointed in 2003)[71]
Honorary Professor (1997–2002),
Department of Electronic Engineering,
City University of Hong Kong[88]
Lifetime Honorary Professorship, City
University of Hong Kong (appointed on
January 1, 2002)[88]
Advisor of Macao Science and
Technology Council[89]

Honorary degrees …
Alexander Graham Bell, pioneer of telecommunication
and an alumnus of University College London (UCL),
was awarded the first U.S. patent for telephone in
1876. After 90 years in 1966, Kao and Hockham
published their groundbreaking article in fiber-optic
communication. Kao is also an alumnus of UCL, and
was awarded the prestigious Alexander Graham Bell
Medal of IEEE in 1985. Kao was awarded an honorary
doctorate by UCL in 2010.

Honorary Doctor of Science, Chinese

University of Hong Kong, British Hong
Kong[90] (1985)
Doctor of Science, The University of
Sussex, U.K.[90] (1990)
Doctor of Engineering, National Chiao
Tung University, Taiwan (1990)[91][92]
Degree of Honorary Doctor, Soka
University, Japan (1991)
Doctor of Engineering, The University of
Glasgow, U.K. (1992)
Honorary DCL, Durham University, U.K.
(1994)[93]
Doctor of the University, Griffith
University, Australia (1995)
Honorary degree in
"Telecommunications engineering",
University of Padua, Italy (Oct 18,
1996)[94]
Doctor of Science, University of Hull,
U.K. (1998)[95]
Doctor of Science, Yale University, USA
(1999)[96]
Doctor of Science Honoris Causa,
University of Greenwich, U.K. (2002)[30]
Doctor of Science, Princeton University,
USA (2004)[97]
Honorary doctor of laws degree,
University of Toronto, Canada (June 16,
2005)[98]
Honorary Doctor, Beijing University of
Posts and Telecommunications, China
 (2007)
Honorary Doctorate of Science,
University College London, U.K.
(2010)[99]
Honorary Degree, University of
Strathclyde, U.K. (Sep 24, 2010)[100]
Doctor of Science honoris causa,
University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
S.A.R., China (2011)[101]

Awards …
Guglielmo Marconi, pioneer of wireless
telecommunication, was awarded half of the 1909
Nobel Prize in Physics. In 2009, the century
anniversary of Marconi's Nobel, Kao was awarded half
of the same prize for his pioneer work on optical fibre

which has "rewired the world". Kao was also awarded

the Marconi Prize in 1985, and is a Fellow of the
Marconi Society.

Kao donated most of his prize medals to

the Chinese University of Hong Kong.[75]
1976: The Morey Award, American
Ceramic Society, USA.
1977: The Stuart Ballantine Medal,
Franklin Institute, USA.[75]
1978: The Rank Prize in Optoelectronics,
Rank Trust Fund, UK.
1978: The IEEE Morris N. Liebmann
Memorial Award. Citation: "for making
communication at optical frequencies
practical by discovering, inventing, and
developing the material, techniques and
configurations for glass fiber waveguides
and, in particular, for recognizing and
proving by careful measurements in bulk
glasses that silicon glass could provide
the requisite low optical loss needed for a
practical communication system".
1979: The L. M. Ericsson International
Prize, Sweden.[75]
1980: The Gold Medal, AFCEA, USA.
1981: The CESASC Achievement Award,
Southern California, USA.
1983: USAI Achievement Award, U.S.-
Asia Institute, USA.[75]
1985: The IEEE Alexander Graham Bell
Medal.[75]
1985: The Marconi International
Scientist Award, Marconi Foundation,
USA.
1985: The Columbus Medal of the City
of Genoa, Italy.
1986: The CIE Achievement Award of
the CIE-USA Annual Awards, USA.[102]
1987: The C & C Prize, Foundation for
Communication and Computer
Promotion, Japan.
1989: The Faraday Medal, Institution of
Electrical Engineers, UK.[75]
1989: The James C. McGroddy Prize for
New Materials, American Physical
Society (APS). Citation: "for contribution
to the materials research and
development that resulted in practical low
loss optical fibers, one of the
cornerstones of optical communications
technology".[103]
1992: The Gold Medal of the Society,
SPIE.[104]
1995: The Gold Medal for Engineering
Excellence, The World Federation of
Engineering Organizations (WFEO),
UK.[75]
1996: The Prince Philip Medal of the
Royal Academy of Engineering, UK;[75] in
recognition of "his pioneering work which
led to the invention of optical fibre and for
his leadership in its engineering and
commercial realisation; and for his
distinguished contribution to higher
education in Hong Kong".
1996: la Citta' di Padova, Italy.[75]
1996: The 12th Japan Prize.[75] Citation:
"for pioneering research on wide-band,
low-loss optical fiber communications".
1998: The International Lecture Medal,
IEE, UK.[75][105]
1999: The Charles Stark Draper Prize[75]
(co-recipient with Robert D. Maurer and
John B. MacChesney), USA.
2001: Millennium Outstanding Engineer
Award, Hong Kong.[75]
2006: The HKIE Gold Medal Award, HKIE
(The Hong Kong Institute of Engineers),
Hong Kong.[78][106]
2009: The Nobel Prize in Physics (1/2 of
the prize), Sweden. Citation: "for
groundbreaking achievements
concerning the transmission of light in
fibers for optical communication".[107]
2009: The IEEE Photonics Society
Plaque.[108]
2010 (Feb 27): Distinguished Science &
Technology Award, 2010 Asian
American Engineer of the Year Award,
AAEOY 2010, USA.[109]
2010 (Mar 27): 2009/2010 World
Chinese Grand Prize, Phoenix Television,
Hong Kong.[110][111]
 2010 (April 8/9): Chinese American
Distinction Award, San Francisco,
USA.[112]
20 Feb 2014: FTTH Operators Award
and Individual Award[113]

Namesakes …

The landmark auditorium in the Hong Kong Science

Park has been named after Kao since December 30,
2009.
The 3463 Kaokuen, discovered in 1981,
named after Kao in 1996.
1996 (November 7): The north wing of
the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Science Centre has been named as
Charles Kuen Kao Building.[87]
2009 (December 30): The landmark
auditorium in the Hong Kong Science
Park has been named after Kao –
Charles K. Kao Auditorium.[114][115]
2010 (March 18): Professor Charles Kao
Square, a square of the Independent
Schools Foundation Academy[116]
2014 (September): Sir Charles Kao UTC
(now known as BMAT STEM Academy)
 was opened[117]

Others …

Featured in Science Museum London.

Hong Kong Affairs Adviser (May 1994 –
June 30, 1997)[118][119]
1999: Asian of the Century, Science and
Technology.[17][120]
2002: Leader of the Year – Innovation
Technology Category, Sing Tao, Hong
Kong.[75]
October 21, 2002: Inducted into the
Engineering Hall Of Fame, the 50th
Anniversary Issue, Electronic
Design.[121][122]
January 3, 2008: Inducted into the
Celebration 60, British Council's 60th
anniversary in Hong Kong.[123][124]
November 4, 2009: Honorary
Citizenship, and the Dr. Charles Kao Day
in Mountain View, California, USA.[125]
2009: Hong Kong's Person of Year.[126]
The Top 10 Asian Achievements of 2009
– No.7.[127]
2010 (February): Honoree, Committee of
100, USA.[112]
The 2010 OFC/NFOEC Conferences[e]
were dedicated to Kao, March 23–25,
San Diego, California, USA.[128][129][130]
May 14–15, 2010: Two sessions were
dedicated to Kao, The 19th Annual
Wireless and Optical Communications
Conference (WOCC 2010), Shanghai,
P.R.China.[131][132]
May 22, 2010: Inducted into the
memento archive of the 2010 Shanghai
World Expo.[133]
Mid-2010: Hong Kong Definitive Stamp
Sheetlet (No. 1), Hong Kong SAR.[134]
March 25, 2011: Blue plaque unveiled in
Harlow, Essex, UK.[135]
4 Nov 2014: Gimme Fibre Day on Kao's
birthday, FTTH Councils Global
Alliance[136]
Later life and death
Kao's international travels led him to opine
that he belonged to the world instead of
any country.[137][138] An open letter
published by Kao and his wife in 2010 later
clarified that "Charles studied in Hong
Kong for his high schooling, he has taught
here, he was the Vice-Chancellor of CUHK
and retired here too. So he is a Hong Kong
belonger."[139]

Pottery making, a traditional Chinese

handiwork, was a hobby of Kao's. Kao also
enjoyed reading Wuxia novels.[140]
On October 6, 2009, when Kao was
awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his
contributions to the study of the
transmission of light in optical fibres and
for fibre communication,[141] he said, "I am
absolutely speechless and never expected
such an honour".[142] Kao's wife Gwen told
the press that the prize will primarily be
used for Charles's medical expenses,[143]
after paying tax to the US government. In
2010 Charles and Gwen Kao founded the
Charles K. Kao Foundation for Alzheimer's
Disease to raise public awareness about
the disease and provide support for the
patients.
Kao suffered from Alzheimer's disease
from early 2004 and had speech difficulty,
but had no problem recognising people or
addresses.[144] Kao's father also suffered
from the same disease. Beginning in 2008,
he resided in Mountain View, California,
United States, where he moved from Hong
Kong in order to live near his children and
grandchild.[12]

In 2016, Kao lost the ability to maintain his

balance. At the end-stage of his dementia
he was cared for by his wife and intended
not to be kept alive with life support or
have CPR performed on him.[145] Kao died
at Bradbury Hospice in Hong Kong on 23
September 2018 at the age of
84.[146][147][148][149]

Notes
^ a: Kao's major task was to investigate
light-loss properties in materials of optic
fibers, and determine whether they could
be removed or not. Hockham's was
investigating light-loss due to
discontinuities and curvature of fibre.
^ b: Some sources show around
1964,[150][151] for example, "By 1964, a
critical and theoretical specification was
identified by Dr. Charles K. Kao for long-
range communication devices, the 10 or 20
dB of light loss per kilometer standard."
from Cisco Press.[150]
^ c: In 1980, Kao was awarded the Gold
Medal from American Armed Forces
Communications and Electronics
Association, "for contribution to the
application of optical fiber technology to
military communications".[53]
^ d: In the United States National Academy
of Engineering Membership Website, Kao's
country is indicated as People's Republic of
China.[85]
^ e: OFC/NFOEC – Optical Fiber
Communication Conference and
Exposition/National Fiber Optic Engineers
Conference[130]
References
1. The Nobel Prize in Physics 2009 –
Press Release . Nobel Foundation.
October 6, 2009. Retrieved October 8,
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September 27, 2018. "
家，每⼀個種族感情都差不
多。。。。。。我是以⼈為主，不是
以國家或種族為主。。。。。。我變
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Pao (in Chinese). Hong Kong: Media
Chinese International. September 24,
2018. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
14 . "In memory of Sir Charles K. Kao
(1933-2018)" (Press release). Hong
Kong: Charles K. Kao Foundation for
Alzheimer’s Disease. September 23,
2018. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
149. Ives, Mike (September 24, 2018).
"Charles Kao, Nobel Laureate Who
Revolutionized Fiber Optics, Dies at
84" . New York Times. Retrieved
September 26, 2018.
150. Vivek Alwayn (April 23, 2004). "Fiber-
Optic Technologies – A Brief History
of Fiber-Optic Communications" .
Cisco Press. Retrieved December 4,
2009.
151. Mary Bellis. "The Birth of Fiber
Optics" . inventors.about.com.
Retrieved December 15, 2009.

Monographs
Optical fiber technology; by Charles K.
Kao. IEEE Press, New York, USA; 1981.
Optical Fiber Technology, II; by Charles K.
Kao. IEEE Press, New York, USA; 1981,
343 pages. ISBN 0-471-09169-3
ISBN 978-0-471-09169-1.
Optical Fiber Systems: Technology,
Design, and Applications; by Charles K.
Kao. McGraw-Hill, USA; 1982; 204
pages. ISBN 0-07-033277-0 ISBN 978-0-
07-033277-5.
Optical fibre (IEE materials & devices
series, Volume 6); by Charles K. Kao.
Palgrave Macmillan on behalf of IEEE;
1988; University of Michigan; 158 pages.
ISBN 0-86341-125-8 ISBN 978-0-86341-
125-0
A Choice Fulfilled: the Business of High
Technology; by Charles K. Kao. The
Chinese University Press/ Palgrave
Macmillan; 1991, 203 pages. ISBN 962-
201-521-2 ISBN 978-962-201-521-0
Tackling the Millennium Bug Together:
Public Conferences; by Charles K. Kao.
Central Policy Unit, Hong Kong; 48
pages, 1998.
Technology Road Maps for Hong Kong: a
Preliminary Study; by Charles K. Kao.
Office of Industrial and Business
Development, The Chinese University of
Hong Kong; 126 pages, 1990.
Nonlinear Photonics: Nonlinearities in
Optics, Optoelectronics and Fiber
Communications; by Yili Guo, Kin S.
 Chiang, E. Herbert Li, and Charles K.
Kao. The Chinese University Press, Hong
Kong; 2002, 600 pages.

Further reading
Kao, Charles (1982). Optical Fibre
Systems: Technology, Design and
Application . New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Inc., US. ISBN 978-0070332775.
Hecht, Jeff (1999). City of Light, The
Story of Fiber Optics. New York, NY:
Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-
510818-7.
Kao, K. C.; Hockham, G. A. (1966).
"Dielectric-fibre surface waveguides for
optical frequencies". Proc. IEE. 113 (7):
1151–1158.
doi:10.1049/piee.1966.0189 .
Kao, K. C.; Davies, T. W. (1968).
"Spectrophotometric Studies of Ultra
Low Loss Optical Glasses – I: Single
Beam Method". Journal of Physics E. 2
(1): 1063–1068.
Bibcode:1968JPhE....1.1063K .
doi:10.1088/0022-3735/1/11/303 .
PMID 5707856 .
K. C. Kao (June 1986), "1012 bit/s
Optoelectronics Technology ", IEE
Proceedings 133, Pt.J, No 3, 230–236.
doi:10.1049/ip-j.1986.0037
⾼錕 . 傑出華⼈系列 (documentary and
oral history) (in Cantonese, Chinese, and
English). Radio Television Hong Kong.
2000. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
"Oral-History:Charles Kao" . Engineering
and Technology History Wiki (oral history
transcript). Interview Conducted by
Robert Colburn. September 26, 2018
[interview conducted in 2004]. Retrieved
September 27, 2018.
Kao, Charles K. (2010). A Time and A
Tide: Charles K. Kao ─ A Memoir
(autobiography). Chinese University
Press. ISBN 9789629969721.
 Kao, Charles K. (2013) [the
translation first published in 2005].
潮平岸闊——⾼錕⾃傳 [A Time And A
Tide: Charles K. Kao ─ A Memoir]
(autobiography) (in Chinese).
Translated by 許迪鏘 (First ed.).
Joint Publishing (Hong Kong).
ISBN 978-962-04-3444-0.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to:

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Optical Fibre History at STL
Charles K. Kao on Nobelprize.org
including the Nobel Lecture 8 December
2009 Sand from centuries past; Send
future voices fast
BBC: Lighting the way to a revolution
Mountain View Voice: The legacy of
Charles Kao
Man who lit up the world – Professor
Charles Kao CBE FREng Ingenia, Issue
43, June 2010
 Awards and achievements

IEEE Alexander
Preceded by Succeeded by
Graham Bell
Andrew Bernard
Medal
Viterbi Widrow
1985

Succeeded by
Takashi
Preceded by
Japan Prize Sugimura
Nick
1996 and
Holonyak
Bruce N.
Ames

Preceded by Nobel Prize Succeeded by

Yoichiro Laureate in Andre Geim
Nambu, Physics and
Makoto with Willard Konstantin
Kobayashi, Boyle and Novoselov
 and George E.
Toshihide Smith
Maskawa 2009

Academic offices

Vice-
Chancellor of
Preceded by the Chinese Succeeded by
Ma Lin University of Arthur Li
Hong Kong
1987–1996

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