{{Short description|Hong Kong electrical engineer (1933–2018)}} {{family name hatnote|[[Gao (surname)|Kao]]|2=Charles Kao|3=Kao Kuen|lang=Hong Kong}} {{Western name order}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2011}} {{Use Hong Kong English|date=August 2024}}

{{Infobox scientist | name = Charles Kao | native_name = {{Nobold|高錕}} | native_name_lang = zh-Hant | image = Charles K. Kao cropped 2.jpg | caption = Kao in 2004 | birth_name = Charles Kuen Kao | birth_date = {{Birth date|1933|11|04}} | birth_place = [[Shanghai]], [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]]<ref name="nobelpress" /> | death_date = {{Death date and age|2018|09|23|1933|11|04}} | death_place = [[Sha Tin]], Hong Kong | citizenship = [[British nationality law|United Kingdom]]<ref name="nobelpress">{{Cite book |title = The Nobel Prize in Physics 2009 – Press Release |url = http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2009/press.html |publisher = Nobel Foundation |date = October 6, 2009 |access-date = October 8, 2009 |archive-date = May 30, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130530214450/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2009/press.html |url-status = live }}</ref><br />[[Citizenship of the United States|United States]] | fields = [[Optoelectronics]] | alma_mater = {{Indented plainlist| * [[University of Greenwich|Woolwich Polytechnic]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BSc]]) * [[University College London]] ([[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])}} | doctoral_advisor = [[Harold Barlow]] | known_for = {{Indented plainlist| * [[Fibre optics]] * [[Fibre-optic communication]]}} | awards = {{Indented plainlist| * [[Stuart Ballantine Medal]] (1977) * [[Rank Prize for Optoelectronics]] (1978) * [[IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award]] (1978) * [[Marconi Prize]] (1985) * [[IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal]] (1985) * [[C&C Prize]] (1987) * [[IEE Faraday Medal]] (1989) * [[International Prize for New Materials]] (1989) * [[SPIE Gold Medal]] (1992) * [[Prince Philip Medal]] (1996) * [[Japan Prize]] (1996) * [[Charles Stark Draper Prize]] (1999) * [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (2009) * [[Grand Bauhinia Medal]] (2010)}} | spouse = {{Marriage|Gwen Wong May-Wun|1959}} | children = 2 | honorific_prefix = [[Sir]] | honorific_suffix = {{Postnom|country=HKG|GBM|KBE|FRS|FREng|size=100%}} | education = [[St. Joseph's College, Hong Kong|St. Joseph's College]] | relatives = {{Indented plainlist| * [[Gao Xie|Kao Hsieh]] (grandfather) * [[Kao Ping-tse]] (first cousin, once removed)}} | work_institutions = {{Indented plainlist| * [[Standard Telephones and Cables]] (1957–1970) * [[Chinese University of Hong Kong]] (1970–1974) * [[ITT Corporation]] (1974–1987)}} }} {{Infobox Chinese | t = {{linktext|高|錕}} | s = 高锟 | p = Gāo Kūn | w = Kao<sup>1</sup> K'un<sup>1</sup> | mi = {{IPAc-cmn|g|ao|1|-|k|wen|1}} | j = Gou1 Kwan1 | y = Gōu Kwān | ci = {{IPAc-yue|g|ou|1|-|kw|an|1}} }}

'''Sir Charles Kuen Kao'''{{Efn|{{Lang-zh|s=高锟|t=高錕|p=Gāo Kūn}}}} (November 4, 1933 – September 23, 2018) was a Hong Kong [[electrical engineer]] who contributed to the development and use of [[fibre optics]] in telecommunications. In the 1960s, Kao created various methods to combine [[glass fibre]]s with [[laser]]s in order to transmit [[digital data]], which laid the groundwork for the evolution of the [[Internet]] and the eventual creation of the [[World Wide Web]].

Born in 1933 in [[Shanghai]], Kao and his family settled in [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]] in 1949. He graduated from [[St. Joseph's College, Hong Kong|St. Joseph's College]] in Hong Kong in 1952 and went to London to study electrical engineering. In the 1960s, he worked at [[Standard Telecommunication Laboratories]], the research center of [[Standard Telephones and Cables]] (STC) in [[Harlow]], and it was here in 1966 that he laid the groundwork for fibre optics in communication.<ref>{{cite book | last= Hecht | first= Jeff | title= City of Light, The Story of Fiber Optics| url= https://archive.org/details/citylightstoryfi00hech | url-access= limited | publisher= Oxford University Press | location= New York| year= 1999 | isbn= 0-19-510818-3 | page=[https://archive.org/details/citylightstoryfi00hech/page/n126 114]}}</ref> Known as the "godfather of broadband,"<ref name="Kao MV">{{cite web |url = http://www.mv-voice.com/news/show_story.php?id=2055 |title = The legacy of Charles Kao |publisher = [[Embarcadero Media|Moun]] |first = Kelsey |last = Mesher |date = October 15, 2009 |access-date = November 30, 2009 |archive-date = February 15, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210215070505/https://www.mv-voice.com/news/2009/10/15/the-legacy-of-charles-kao |url-status = live }}</ref> the "father of fibre optics,"<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/288928,profile-charles-kao-father-of-fibre-optics-nobel-winner.html |title = PROFILE: Charles Kao: 'father of fiber optics,' Nobel winner |publisher = Earthtimes |author = dpa |date = October 6, 2009 |access-date = November 30, 2009 |archive-date = February 15, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210215070503/http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/288928,profile-charles-kao-father-of-fibre-optics-nobel-winner.html |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://cordis.europa.eu/search/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.document&N_RCN=31331 |title = 'Father of Fibre Optics' and digital photography pioneers share Nobel Prize in Physics |website = Europa (web portal) |format = cfm |author = Record control number (RCN):31331 |date = October 7, 2009 |access-date = November 30, 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080125143708/http://cordis.europa.eu/search/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.document |archive-date = January 25, 2008 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.cio.com.au/article/321157/father_fiber-optics_snags_share_nobel_physics_prize |title = Father of fiber-optics snags share of Nobel Physics Prize |publisher = cio.com.au |author = Bob Brown (Network World) |work = CIO |date = October 7, 2009<!-- 00:39:00 --> |access-date = November 30, 2009 |archive-date = February 15, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210215070455/https://www.cio.com/au/ |url-status = live }}</ref><ref name=networkchinese>{{cite web |url=http://www.networkchinese.com/whoswho/gaoqun.html |title=The father of optical fiber – Narinder Singh Kapany/Prof. C. K. Kao |publisher=networkchinese.com |language=zh, en |access-date=October 8, 2009 |archive-date=September 23, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090923204346/http://www.networkchinese.com/whoswho/gaoqun.html |url-status=usurped }}</ref><ref name="Asiaweek Kao">{{cite magazine |url = http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/features/aoc/aoc.kao.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20020721015945/http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/features/aoc/aoc.kao.html |archive-date = 2002-07-21 |title=Asian of the Century, Charles K. Kao |magazine=[[Asiaweek]] |first1=Jim |last1=Erickson |first2=Yulanda |last2=Chung |date=December 10, 1999 |access-date=December 24, 2009}}</ref> and the "father of fibre optic communications,"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ouhk.edu.hk/~openlink/current/0001/e-tena1.htm |title=Prof. Charles K Kao speaks on the impact of IT in Hong Kong |publisher=The [[Open University of Hong Kong]] |date=January 2000 |volume=9 |issue=1 |access-date=December 24, 2009 |archive-date=February 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215070509/http://www.ouhk.edu.hk/~openlink/current/0001/e-tena1.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> he continued his work in Hong Kong at the [[Chinese University of Hong Kong]], and in the United States at [[ITT Inc.|ITT]] (the parent corporation of STC) and [[Yale University]].

In 2009, Kao was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] "for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibres for [[optical communication]]."<ref name="Nobel Prize">{{Cite web|title=Nobel Prize in Physics 2009|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2009/summary/|url-status=live|publisher=[[Nobel Foundation]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091008215314/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2009/index.html|archive-date=2009-10-08|access-date=2009-10-06}}</ref> The following year, he was knighted by [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]] "for services to fibre-optic communications."<ref name=KBE>{{London Gazette|issue=59446 |supp=1|date=2010-06-12|page=23}}</ref>

Kao was a [[residents of Hong Kong|permanent resident of Hong Kong]],<ref>{{cite video|script-title=zh:高錕|work=香港百人|publisher=Asia Television|date=2011|language=yue, zh, en}}</ref> and a citizen of the [[British nationality law|United Kingdom]] and the [[Citizenship of the United States|United States]].<ref name="nobelpress" />

== Early life and education == Kao Kuen was born on November 4, 1933, in [[Shanghai]], China, and lived with his parents in the [[Shanghai French Concession]].<ref name=auto/>{{rp|1}} He studied [[Chinese classics]] at home with his brother, under a tutor.<ref name=eastday>{{Cite news |url=http://why.eastday.com/q/20091008/u1a639015.html |trans-title=Interview of Kao's cousin |script-title=zh:诺贝尔得主高锟的堂哥回忆:他兒时国学功底很好 |date=10 October 2009 |access-date=October 9, 2009 |newspaper=[[Youth Daily]] |location=Shanghai |last1=Fan |first1=Yanping (范彦萍) |language=zh-cn |via=eastday.com |archive-date=October 11, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091011043839/http://why.eastday.com/q/20091008/u1a639015.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=auto/>{{rp|41}} He also studied English and French at the Shanghai World School ({{lang-zh|labels=no|t=上海世界學校}})<ref>{{cite video|url=http://www.rthk.hk/tv/dtt31/programme/successstories2000/episode/528730|script-title=zh:高錕|work=傑出華人系列|date=2000|type=documentary and oral history|publisher=Radio Television Hong Kong|language=yue, zh, en|access-date=27 September 2018 | time =12:00 to 13:00}}</ref> that was founded by a number of progressive Chinese educators, including [[Cai Yuanpei]].<ref>{{Cite news |url = http://oldepaper.zgkqw.com/html/2008-06/01/content_118747.htm |script-title = zh:著名女教育家陶玄 |trans-title = Famous Female Educator Tao Xuan |date = June 1, 2008 |access-date = October 9, 2009 |newspaper = 绍兴县报 [Shaoxing County News] |author = 陶家骏 |language = zh |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120313060320/http://oldepaper.zgkqw.com/html/2008-06/01/content_118747.htm |archive-date = March 13, 2012 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all }}</ref>

After the [[Chinese Communist Revolution|Communist Revolution]] in 1949, Kao's family settled in [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]], which at the time was a British [[crown colony]]. Much of his mother's siblings moved to Hong Kong in the late 1930s. Among them, his mother's youngest brother took good care of him.<ref name=auto>{{cite book|script-title=zh:潮平岸闊 – 高錕自傳|trans-title=A Time And A Tide: Charles K. Kao – A Memoir|edition=First|isbn=978-962-04-3444-0|translator=許迪鏘|publisher=Joint Publishing|location=Hong Kong|first=Charles K.|last=Kao|date=2005}}</ref>{{rp|1}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.mingpao.com/ins/instantnews/web_tc/article/20180923/s00001/1537687752800|script-title=zh:「光纖之父」高錕離世 享年84歲 (16:56)|date=23 September 2018|department=Online instant news section|access-date=27 September 2018|newspaper=Ming Pao|publisher=Media Chinese International|location=Hong Kong|language=zh-hk|archive-date=September 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180923124546/https://news.mingpao.com/ins/instantnews/web_tc/article/20180923/s00001/1537687752800|url-status=live}}</ref>

Kao's family lived on Lau Sin Street at the edge of the [[North Point, Hong Kong|North Point]], a neighbourhood of Shanghai immigrants.<ref name="auto" /> During Kao's time in Hong Kong, he studied at [[St. Joseph's College, Hong Kong|St. Joseph's College]] for five years and graduated in 1952.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hk.news.appledaily.com/local/realtime/article/20180929/58738664 |script-title=zh:【高錕病逝】展覽懷緬光纖之父 會考證書曝光數學只攞Credit |work=[[Apple Daily]] |date=2018-09-29 |language=zh-hk |access-date=September 29, 2018 |archive-date=September 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930033554/https://hk.news.appledaily.com/local/realtime/article/20180929/58738664 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Prominent Old Boys - St. Joseph's College |url=https://www.sjc.edu.hk/oldboys.php?content=education |access-date=2024-08-09 |website=www.sjc.edu.hk |archive-date=July 20, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240720114600/https://www.sjc.edu.hk/oldboys.php?content=education |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Kao obtained high score in the Hong Kong School Certificate Examination, which at the time was the territory's matriculation examination, qualifying him for admission to the [[University of Hong Kong]] (HKU). However, [[electrical engineering]] wasn't a programme available at HKU, the territory's then only [[tertiary education]] institution.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Facebook |url=https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2111394785843820&id=1748969242086378&set=a.1756940571289245&locale=en |access-date=2024-08-03 |website=www.facebook.com}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

Hence, in 1953, Kao went to [[London]] to continue his studies in secondary school and obtained his [[A-level (United Kingdom)|A-Level]] in 1955. He was later admitted to Woolwich Polytechnic (now the [[University of Greenwich]]) and obtained a [[Bachelor of Science|B.Sc.]] in 1957.<ref name="Woolwich">{{Cite news |url = http://www.greenwichalumni.co.uk/magazine%20pdfs/meantime_alumni_spring2005.pdf |title = meantimealumni Spring 2005 |access-date = October 7, 2009 |publisher = University of Greenwich |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111009033824/http://www.greenwichalumni.co.uk/magazine%20pdfs/meantime_alumni_spring2005.pdf |archive-date = October 9, 2011 |url-status = usurped |df = mdy-all }}</ref><ref name="auto" />{{rp|1}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://alumni.gre.ac.uk/yourstories/charles-kao/ |title=Sir Charles Kao – Alumni {{pipe}} University of Greenwich |access-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-date=January 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107204527/https://alumni.gre.ac.uk/yourstories/charles-kao/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=uniquekey |title=Nobel Laureate in Physics - Professor Charles Kuen KAO |url=https://hklaureateforum.org/en/nobel-laureate-in-physics-professor-charles-kuen-kao |access-date=2024-08-03 |website=hklaureateforum.org |language=en-gb}}</ref> He then pursued research and received his [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in Electrical Engineering in 1965 from the [[University College London]]—under the supervision of [[Harold Barlow]]—as an external student while working at [[Standard Telecommunication Laboratories]] in [[Harlow]], the research centre of [[Standard Telephones and Cables]] (STC).<ref name="UCL">{{cite web|url = http://www.ee.ucl.ac.uk/about/history/K_C_Kao |title= Prof Charles K. Kao|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100914042830/http://www.ee.ucl.ac.uk/about/history/K_C_Kao|archive-date=14 September 2010|access-date=27 September 2018|department=Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering|publisher=University College London|date= September 24, 2018}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

=== Ancestry and family === Kao's father {{ill|Kao Chun-Hsiang|zh|高君湘}} ({{lang-zh|t=高君湘|labels=no}}),<ref name=auto/>{{rp|13}} originally from [[Jinshan City]] (now a district of Shanghai City), obtained his [[Juris Doctor]] from the [[University of Michigan Law School]] in 1925.<ref>University of Michigan Law School: [http://www.law.umich.edu/historyandtraditions/students/GraduateListPDFS/K.pdf Alphabetical List with Year of Law School Graduates] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319060845/http://www.law.umich.edu/historyandtraditions/students/GraduateListPDFS/K.pdf |date=March 19, 2021 }}</ref> He was a judge at the [[Shanghai International Settlement|Shanghai Concession]] and later a professor at [[Soochow University (1900–1952)|Soochow University]] (then in Shanghai) Comparative Law School of China.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yadian.cc/corpus/1211/|script-title=zh:高君湘_法律学人_雅典学园|access-date=October 7, 2009|archive-date=July 6, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706220012/http://www.yadian.cc/corpus/1211/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://journal.chinalawinfo.com/Article_Info.asp?Id=125689 |script-title=zh:中国近代法律教育与中国近代法学 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708144744/https://journal.chinalawinfo.com/Article_Info.asp?Id=125689 |archive-date=July 8, 2011 |df=mdy }}</ref>

His grandfather [[Gao Xie|Kao Hsieh]] was a scholar, poet, and artist.<ref name=eastday/><ref>{{cite web |url = http://nanshewan.b121.53dns.com/suzhi/jnhxsl.txt |script-title=zh:参加南社纪念会姓氏录|trans-title= List of Nan Society member |publisher = 南社研究網 [Research of Nan Society] |access-date = October 8, 2009 |language = zh |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081121184213/http://nanshewan.b121.53dns.com/suzhi/jnhxsl.txt |archive-date = November 21, 2008 |df = mdy-all }}</ref> Several writers including [[Gao Xu|Kao Hsü]], {{ill|Yao Guang (poet)|zh|姚光|lt=Yao Kuang}} ({{lang-zh|t=姚光|labels=no}}), and {{ill|Kao Tseng|zh|高增}} ({{lang-zh|t=高增|labels=no}}) were also Kao's close relatives.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

His father's cousin was astronomer [[Kao Ping-tse]]<ref name=eastday/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.qdgxt.cn/show.aspx?id=11&cid=11|script-title=zh:高平子先生简介|date=February 8, 2006|access-date=October 8, 2009|publisher=青岛天文网--中国科学院紫金山天文台青岛观象台/青岛市天文爱好者协会|language=zh|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707051038/http://www.qdgxt.cn/show.aspx?id=11&cid=11|archive-date=July 7, 2011|df=mdy-all}}</ref> ([[Kao (crater)|Kao crater]] is named after him<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/science/atlas/text/cratertex_k.html|title=Lunar Crater Statistics|access-date=October 8, 2009|publisher=NASA|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813061056/http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/science/atlas/text/cratertex_k.html|archive-date=August 13, 2009|df=mdy-all}}</ref>). Kao's younger brother Timothy Wu Kao ({{lang-zh|t=高鋙|labels=no}}) is a civil engineer and professor emeritus at the [[Catholic University of America]]; his research is in [[hydrodynamics]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.eastday.com/c/20091006/u1a4710178.html |script-title=zh:高锟个人简历 |trans-title=The biography of Charles K. Kao |publisher=chinanews.com.cn |date=October 6, 2009 |access-date=October 9, 2009 |language=zh |archive-date=October 8, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091008211556/http://news.eastday.com/c/20091006/u1a4710178.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Kao met his future wife Gwen May-Wan Kao (née [[Huang (surname)|Wong]]; {{lang-zh|t=黃美芸|labels=no}}) in London after graduation, when they worked together as engineers at STC. She was [[British Chinese]]. They were married in 1959 in London, and had a son and a daughter, both of whom reside and work in [[Silicon Valley]], California.<ref>{{cite video|url=http://www.rthk.hk/tv/dtt31/programme/successstories2000/episode/528730|script-title=zh:高錕|work=傑出華人系列|date=2000|type=documentary and oral history|publisher=Radio Television Hong Kong|language=yue, zh, en|access-date=27 September 2018 | time =around 20:00}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Midwinter |first=John |date=June 2021 |title=Sir Charles Kuen Kao. 4 November 1933—23 September 2018 |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |language=en |volume=70 |pages=211–224 |doi=10.1098/rsbm.2020.0006 |issn=0080-4606|doi-access=free }}</ref> According to Kao's autobiography, Kao was a Catholic who attended [[Catholic Church]] while his wife attended the [[Anglican Communion]].<ref name=auto/>{{rp|14–15}}

==Academic career==

===Fibre optics and communications=== [[File:Fibreoptic.jpg|thumb|upright|A bundle of [[silica glass]] fibres for optical 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.<ref name="Kao Draper Prize">{{cite web |url=http://www.draper.com/dprize/dp99.html |title=Draper Prize |publisher=draper.comg |access-date=November 4, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100214003048/http://www.draper.com/dprize/dp99.html |archive-date=February 14, 2010 |df=mdy }} "Charles Kao is credited for ''first'' publicly proposing the possibility of practical telecommunications using fibers in the 1960s."</ref>]]

In the 1960s at [[Standard Telecommunication Laboratories]] (STL) based in [[Harlow]], Essex, England, Kao and his coworkers did their pioneering work in creating [[fiber optics|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.<ref>{{Cite book |title = Fiber optic data communication: technological trends and advances |editor-first= Casimer |editor-last=DeCusatis |isbn = 978-0-12-207891-0 |chapter = Chapter 1 – History of Fiber Optics |first=Jeff D. |last = Montgomery |at = 1.3.1. Long Road to Low-Loss Fiber (pp. 9–16) |publisher=Academic Press |edition = 1st |date = March 22, 2002}}</ref>

In 1963, when Kao first joined the optical communications research team he made notes summarising the background<ref name="opticalfibrehistory.co.uk">{{cite web|url=http://opticalfibrehistory.co.uk/images/charles-kaos-notes-a/|title=Charles Kao's Notes made in 1963 – Set A|date=March 23, 2016}}</ref> situation and available technology at the time, and identifying the key individuals<ref name="opticalfibrehistory.co.uk"/> 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 him that the impurities in material caused the high light losses of those fibres.<ref name="Fiber Optic History">{{cite web |url=http://www.sff.net/people/Jeff.hecht/history.html |title=A Short History of Fiber Optics |author=Jeff Hecht |access-date=October 8, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613143724/http://www.sff.net/people/Jeff.Hecht/history.html |archive-date=June 13, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Later that year, Kao was appointed head of the electro-optics research group at STL.<ref name="IET">{{cite web |url=http://kn.theiet.org/news/oct09/comms-nobel.cfm |title=Communication pioneers win 2009 physics Nobel |publisher=[[Institution of Engineering and Technology|IET]] |date=October 7, 2009 |access-date=October 28, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091013113616/http://kn.theiet.org/news/oct09/comms-nobel.cfm |archive-date=October 13, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> 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|University of New South Wales (UNSW)]], Sydney, Australia.<ref name="Fiber Types" >{{cite web |url=http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/modules/ps5455/white_paper_c11-463661.pdf |title=Fiber Types in Gigabit Optical Communications |publisher=[[Cisco Systems]], USA |date=April 2008 |access-date=November 3, 2009 |archive-date=June 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608080909/http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/modules/ps5455/white_paper_c11-463661.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

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]].<ref name="Fiber Optic History" /><ref name="Fiber Types" /> They not only considered [[Physical optics|optical physics]] but also the material properties. The results were first presented by Kao to the [[Institution of Electrical Engineers|IEE]] in January 1966 in London, and further published in July with George Hockham (1964–1965 worked with Kao).<ref>{{Cite journal|first1=K. C. |last1=Kao |first2=G. A. |last2=Hockham |year=1966|title=Dielectric-fibre surface waveguides for optical frequencies |journal=Proc. IEE |volume=113 |issue=7 |pages=1151–1158 |doi=10.1049/piee.1966.0189}}</ref>{{Efn|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 fiber.}} This study proposed the use of glass fibres for optical communication. The concepts described, especially the electromagnetic theory and performance parameters, are the basis of today's optical fibre communications.<ref name="r551">{{cite journal | last=Midwinter | first=John | title=Sir Charles Kuen Kao. 4 November 1933—23 September 2018 | journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society | volume=70 | date=2021 | issn=0080-4606 | doi=10.1098/rsbm.2020.0006 | pages=211–224| doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="c316">{{cite web | last=Hecht | first=Jeff | title=The Remarkable Fiber Optic Vision Of Charles Kao | website=Optics & Photonics News | date=2019-03-01 | url=https://www.optica-opn.org/home/articles/volume_30/march_2019/features/the_remarkable_fiber_optic_vision_of_charles_kao/ | access-date=2024-06-24}}</ref>

{{Quote box|width=29%|bgcolor=#FFFFF0|align=left|quote="What Kao did in Harlow transformed the world and provided a backbone for the internet. He was the father of fiber optics."|source=—Harlow Museum's David Devine on Kao's pioneering work in fiber optics at [[Standard Telephones and Cables|STC]]'s [[Standard Telecommunication Laboratories]] in Harlow<ref>"Sir Charles Kao: Fibre optics genius passes away". BBC. (26 September 2018). Retrieved 21 May 2020</ref>}}

In 1965,<ref name="IET" /><ref>{{Cite book |title = Microstructured Polymer Optical Fibres |author1=Maryanne C. J. Large |author2=Leon Poladian |author3=Geoff Barton |author4=Martijn A. van Eijkelenborg. |isbn = 978-0-387-31273-6 |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |year=2008}} Page '''2'''</ref>{{Efn|Some sources show around 1964,<ref name="Cisco Press">{{cite web |url=http://www.ciscopress.com/articles/article.asp?p=170740 |title=Fiber-Optic Technologies – A Brief History of Fiber-Optic Communications |author=Vivek Alwayn |publisher=[[Cisco Press]] |date=April 23, 2004 |access-date=December 4, 2009 |archive-date=November 8, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071108135909/http://www.ciscopress.com/articles/article.asp?p=170740 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="The Birth of Fiber Optics">{{cite web |url=http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa980407.htm |title=The Birth of Fiber Optics |publisher=inventors.about.com |author=Mary Bellis |access-date=December 15, 2009 |archive-date=July 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712024320/http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa980407.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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]].<ref name="Cisco Press" />}} Kao with Hockham concluded that the fundamental limitation for glass light attenuation is below 20 ''dB/km'' (''[[decibels]] per kilometer'', is a measure of the attenuation of a signal over a distance), which is a key threshold value for optical communications.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://ujdigispace.uj.ac.za:8080/dspace/bitstream/10210/2173/7/Chapter1FINAL.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110831200826/http://ujdigispace.uj.ac.za:8080/dspace/bitstream/10210/2173/7/Chapter1FINAL.pdf |url-status = dead |archive-date = August 31, 2011 |title = Chapter 1.1 – The Evolution of Fibre Optics |access-date = October 28, 2009 }}</ref> However, at the time of this determination, optical fibres commonly exhibited light loss as high as 1,000&nbsp;dB/km and even more. This conclusion opened the intense race to find low-loss materials and suitable fibres for reaching such criteria.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

Kao, together with his new team (members including T. W. Davies, M. W. Jones 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 (SiO<sub>2</sub>) 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.<ref name="phyadv09">{{cite web |url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2009/phyadv09.pdf |title=2009 Nobel Prize in Physics – Scientific Background: Two revolutionary optical technologies – Optical fiber with high transmission |publisher=Nobelprize.org |date=October 6, 2009 |access-date=December 4, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091122083658/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2009/phyadv09.pdf |archive-date=November 22, 2009 |df=mdy }}</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=02222000 1999 Charles Stark Draper Award Presented] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100505164528/http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=02222000 |date=May 5, 2010 }} "'''Kao''', who was working at ITT's Standard Telecommunications Laboratories in the 1960s, theorized about how to use light for communication instead of bulky copper wire and was the '''first''' to publicly propose the possibility of a practical application for fiber-optic telecommunication."</ref>

Kao also played a leading role in the early stage of engineering and commercial realization of optical communication.<ref name="Charles Kuen Kao" /> In spring 1966, Kao traveled to the U.S. but failed to interest [[Bell Labs]], which was a competitor of STL in [[Information and communication technologies|communication technology]] at that time.<ref name="A Fiber-Optic Chronology">{{cite web |url=http://www.sff.net/people/Jeff.Hecht/chron.html |title=A Fiber-Optic Chronology (by Jeff Hecht) |access-date=November 3, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613143706/http://www.sff.net/people/Jeff.Hecht/Chron.html |archive-date=June 13, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> He subsequently traveled to Japan and gained support.<ref name="A Fiber-Optic Chronology" /> Kao visited many glass and [[polymer]] factories, discussed with various people including engineers, scientists, businessmen about the techniques and improvement of glass fibre manufacture. In 1969, Kao with M. W. Jones measured the intrinsic loss of bulk-fused silica at 4&nbsp;dB/km, which is the first evidence of ultra-transparent glass. Bell Labs started considering fibre optics seriously.<ref name="A Fiber-Optic Chronology" /> As of 2017, fibre optic losses (from both bulk and intrinsic sources) are as low as 0.1419&nbsp;dB/km at the 1.56&nbsp;μm wavelength.<ref>{{Cite journal|first1=Yoshiaki |last1=Tamura |first2=Hirotaka |last2=Sakuma| first3=Keisei|last3=Morita|first4=Masato|last4=Suzuki|first5=Yoshinori|last5=Yamamoto|year=2017|title= Lowest-Ever 0.1419-dB/km Loss Optical Fiber |journal= Optical Fiber Communication Conference|pages=Th5D.1 | isbn=978-1-943580-24-8 }}</ref>

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 communications|military]] application requirements, and peripheral supporting systems for optical fibre communication.<ref name="Charles Kuen Kao">{{cite web |url=http://cradle.wykontario.org/wp-content/uploads/Dr_Kao.pdf |title=Charles Kuen Kao |access-date=October 28, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814012904/http://cradle.wykontario.org/wp-content/uploads/Dr_Kao.pdf |archive-date=August 14, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> In mid-1970s, he did seminal work on glass fibre [[Fatigue limit|fatigue strength]].<ref name="Charles Kuen Kao" /> 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".<ref name="Charles Kuen Kao" /><ref>''Technology of Our Times: People and Innovation in Optics and Optoelectronics'' (SPIE Press Monograph Vol. PM04), by Frederick Su; [[SPIE]] Publications (July 1, 1990); {{ISBN|0-8194-0472-1}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8194-0472-5}}. Page 82–86, Terabit Technology, by Charles K. Kao.</ref> Kao has published more than 100 papers and was granted over 30 patents,<ref name="Charles Kuen Kao" /> including the water-resistant high-strength fibres (with M. S. Maklad).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4183621.html |title=Water resistant high strength fibers (United States Patent 4183621) |format=PDF |orig-year=date filed: December 29, 1977 |date=January 15, 1980 |access-date=November 1, 2009 |archive-date=October 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004231028/http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4183621.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

At an early stage of developing optic fibres, Kao already strongly preferred [[Single-mode optical fiber|single-mode]] for long-distance optical communication, instead of using [[Multi-mode optical fiber|multi-mode systems]]. His vision later was followed and now is applied almost exclusively.<ref name="phyadv09" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://kn.theiet.org/news/oct09/guiding-light.cfm |title=Guiding light |format=PDF |date=May 1989 |access-date=December 4, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091216082955/http://kn.theiet.org/news/oct09/guiding-light.cfm |archive-date=December 16, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Kao was also a visionary of modern [[submarine communications cable]]s 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.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/um81r1t511321752/fulltext.pdf?page=1|title=Building the Global Fiber Optics Superhighway|chapter=1, A Global Footprint|type=Free Abstract|date=May 8, 2007|publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] USA|access-date=November 3, 2009|isbn=978-0-306-46505-5|quote={{ISBN|978-0-306-46979-4}} (Online)}}{{Dead link|date=January 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

[[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 fibre-optic communications.<ref name="Fiber Types" />

=== 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 (academic rank)|reader]] and then the [[Chair (academic)|chair]] Professor of Electronics at CUHK; he built up both undergraduate and graduate study programs 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]].<ref name="networkchinese" /> 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 Center. In 1986, Kao was the Corporate Director of Research at ITT.

Kao 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.<ref name="Kao cisoc">{{cite web |url = http://dl.comsoc.org/livepubs/ci1/public/2010/mar/pdf/cisoc.pdf |title = IEEE Communications Magazine SOCIETY NEWS |editor = Nim Cheung |publisher = CISOC |date = March 2010 |access-date = March 29, 2010 |archive-date = July 18, 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110718064202/http://dl.comsoc.org/livepubs/ci1/public/2010/mar/pdf/cisoc.pdf |url-status = live }}</ref>

Kao was Vice-Chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong from 1987 to 1996.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/adm/handbook/history.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081209122539/http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/adm/handbook/history.pdf|url-status=dead|title=CUHK Handbook|archivedate=December 9, 2008}}</ref> From 1991, Kao was an Independent Non-Executive Director and a member of the Audit Committee of the Varitronix International Limited in Hong Kong.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.varitronix.com/FinancialReportPDF/E_Varitronix%20%28AR02%29-1537.pdf |title=Annual Report 2002, Varitronix International Limited |publisher=Varitronix International Ltd. |date=April 3, 2003 |access-date=November 1, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717185328/http://www.varitronix.com/FinancialReportPDF/E_Varitronix%20(AR02)-1537.pdf |archive-date=July 17, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.varitronix.com/FinancialReportPDF/AR2004C.pdf |script-title=zh:精電國際有限公司 |publisher=精電國際有限公司 |year=2004 |access-date=November 1, 2009 |language=zh, en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717185336/http://www.varitronix.com/FinancialReportPDF/AR2004C.pdf |archive-date=July 17, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> From 1993 to 1994, he was the President of the Association of Southeast Asian Institutions of Higher Learning (ASAIHL).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.seameo.org/asaihl/ |title=President of ASAIHL |publisher=ASAIHL |access-date=November 1, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704033005/http://www.seameo.org/asaihl/ |archive-date=July 4, 2015 |df=mdy }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.yale.edu/opa/arc-ybc/ybc/v24.n33.news.18.html |title=Kao Gift Will Help Build Ties Between Asia and Yale |publisher=Yale Bulletin and Calendar, News Stories |date=June 24 – July 22, 1996 |volume=24 |issue=33 |access-date=November 30, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611132428/http://www.yale.edu/opa/arc-ybc/ybc/v24.n33.news.18.html |archive-date=June 11, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> The fund currently is managed by Yale University Councils on East Asian and Southeast Asian Studies.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eastasianstudies.research.yale.edu/fkao.php |title=Fellowships and research support |format=php |publisher=The Councils on East Asian and Southeast Asian Studies at [[Yale University]] |access-date=November 30, 2009 |archive-date=July 2, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100702232033/http://eastasianstudies.research.yale.edu/fkao.php |url-status=live }}</ref> After his retirement from CUHK in 1996, Kao spent his six-month sabbatical leave at the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of [[Imperial College London]]; from 1997 to 2002, he also served as visiting professor in the same department.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/electricalengineering/newsarchive/awards |title=Research Awards and Honours |publisher=Imperial College London Department of Electric and Electronic Engineering |year=2009 |access-date=December 24, 2009 |archive-date=November 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125050001/http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/electricalengineering/newsarchive/awards |url-status=live }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200008/11/0811117.htm |title = Appointment of Chairman and Members of the Energy Advisory Committee |date = August 11, 2000 |publisher = Hong Kong Government |access-date = November 3, 2009 |archive-date = June 4, 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110604231947/http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200008/11/0811117.htm |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/boards/advisory_council/ace_meeting_mins53.html |title=EPD – Advisory Council on the Environment |date=April 28, 2006 |publisher=Environmental Protection Department, The Government of Hong Kong SAR |access-date=November 3, 2009 |archive-date=June 11, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611111525/http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/boards/advisory_council/ace_meeting_mins53.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Kao was a member of the Council of Advisors on Innovation and Technology of Hong Kong, appointed on April 20, 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cedb.gov.hk/citb/ehtml/pdf/p_releases/Eng-008.pdf |title=The Council of Advisors on Innovation & Technology appointed |date=April 20, 2000 |publisher=The Government of Hong Kong SAR |access-date=November 3, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722072841/http://www.cedb.gov.hk/citb/ehtml/pdf/p_releases/Eng-008.pdf |archive-date=July 22, 2011 }}</ref> In 2000, Kao co-founded the [[Independent Schools Foundation Academy]], which is located in [[Cyberport]], Hong Kong.<ref name="ISF Kao">{{cite web |url=http://www.isf.edu.hk/eng/news.php?id=22 |title=Founding Chairman receives 2009 Nobel Prize for Physics |publisher=The ISF Academy |format=php |access-date=November 1, 2009 |archive-date=February 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110228011619/http://www.isf.edu.hk/eng/news.php?id=22 |url-status=live }}</ref> He was its founding chairman in 2000, and stepped down from the board of the ISF in December 2008.<ref name="ISF Kao"/> Kao was the [[keynote speaker]] at [[IEEE]] [[GLOBECOM]] 2002 in [[Taipei]], Taiwan.<ref name="Kao Taiwan">{{cite web |url=http://www.ntu.edu.tw/engv4/spotlight/2009/e091015_1.html |title=Charles K. Kao, NTU's former chair professor by special appointment, wins the Nobel Prize in Physics |publisher=[[National Taiwan University]] |access-date=November 1, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719022506/http://www.ntu.edu.tw/engv4/spotlight/2009/e091015_1.html |archive-date=July 19, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> 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]].<ref name="Kao Taiwan" /> 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]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://istock.jrj.com.cn/article,hk00282,1442926.html |script-title=zh:壹传媒(00282)高锟辞任独立非执董及审核委员,黄志雄接任 |publisher=jrj.com.cn |date=July 2, 2009<!-- 00:00:15 --> |access-date=November 1, 2009 |language=zh |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707020423/http://istock.jrj.com.cn/article,hk00282,1442926.html |archive-date=July 7, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://tw.nextmedia.com/applenews/article/art_id/31996422/IssueID/20091007 |script-title = zh:中研院士高錕 勇奪物理獎 |website = Apple Daily |location = Taiwan |date = October 7, 2009 |access-date = November 1, 2009 |language = zh |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091017045127/http://tw.nextmedia.com/applenews/article/art_id/31996422/IssueID/20091007 |archive-date = October 17, 2009 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

== Later life and death == Kao's international travels led him to opine that he belonged to the world instead of any country.<ref>{{cite video|url=http://www.rthk.hk/tv/dtt31/programme/successstories2000/episode/528730|script-title=zh:高錕|work=傑出華人系列|date=2000|type=documentary and oral history|publisher=Radio Television Hong Kong|language=yue, zh, en|access-date=27 September 2018 | time =around 38:00|quote={{lang|zh-Hant|我對每一個國家，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。。。。。。我變成了世界中間的一部份，不是任何國家的一部份。}} }}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/cpr/charleskao/letter-e.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091016013150/http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/cpr/charleskao/letter-e.html|archive-date=16 October 2009|access-date=30 September 2018|first1=Charles|last1=Kao|first2=May Wan|last2=Kao|date=13 October 2009|title=Professor and Mrs Charles K. Kao wish to express their gratitude to their friends, all staff, students and alumni at CUHK, members of the media, and the people of Hong Kong, by the following Open Letter. |publisher=Chinese University of Hong Kong|quote=Charles Kao was born in Shanghai, China, did his primary research in 1966 at Standard Telecommunication Laboratories (STL) in Harlow, UK, followed through with work in the USA at ITT, over the following 20 years, to develop fiber optics into a commercial product and finally came to CUHK, Hong Kong in 1987 to pass on his knowledge and expertise to a new generation of students and businessmen. Charles really does belong to the world! }}</ref> 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 [[Chinese University of Hong Kong|CUHK]] and retired here too. So he is a [[Hong Kong]] belonger."<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/cpr/charleskao/letter-e.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227001800/http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/cpr/charleskao/letter-e.html|title= Message from Prof. and Mrs. Charles K. Kao (5 February 2010) |date=5 February 2010|access-date=1 October 2018|archive-date=27 December 2010|first1=Charles K.|last1=Kao|first2=May Wan|last2=Kao|publisher=Chinese University of Hong Kong}}</ref>

[[Chinese ceramics|Pottery]] making was a hobby of Kao's. Kao also enjoyed reading [[Wuxia]] (Chinese martial fantasy) novels.<ref>{{cite news |work=[[Tencent QQ|QQ]].com News |url=http://news.qq.com/a/20091008/000798.htm |script-title=zh:记者探访"光纤之父"高锟：顽皮慈爱的笑 |date=2009-10-08 |language=zh-cn |access-date=October 8, 2009 |archive-date=July 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718171947/http://news.qq.com/a/20091008/000798.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Kao suffered from [[Alzheimer's disease]] from early 2004 and had [[Speech disorder|speech difficulty]], but had no problem recognising people or addresses.<ref>{{cite news |work=[[Ifeng.com]] |url=http://news.ifeng.com/world/200910/1006_16_1377679.shtml |script-title=zh:港媒年初传高锟患老年痴呆症 妻称老人家记性差 |date=October 2009 |language=zh-cn |access-date=October 8, 2009 |archive-date=October 9, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091009022745/http://news.ifeng.com/world/200910/1006_16_1377679.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> His father 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.<ref name="Kao MV"/>

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]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2009/ |title=Physics 2009 |publisher=Nobelprize.org |access-date=October 26, 2009 |archive-date=March 31, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331083828/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2009/ |url-status=live }}</ref> he said, "I am absolutely speechless and never expected such an honor."<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/oct/06/nobel-prize-physics-charles-kao |title=Charles Kuen Kao, George Smith and Willard Boyle win Nobel for physics |work=The Guardian |date=October 6, 2009 |author=Ian Sample|access-date=November 30, 2009 |archive-date=September 8, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908045241/http://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/oct/06/nobel-prize-physics-charles-kao |url-status=live }}</ref> Kao's wife Gwen told the press that the prize will primarily be used for Charles's medical expenses.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/091231/3/fwsq.html |script-title=zh:○九教育大事(二) 高錕獲遲來的諾獎 |date=January 2, 2010 |work=Sing Tao Daily |publisher=HK Yahoo! Archive |language=zh-hk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20100107154928/http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/091231/3/fwsq.html |archive-date=January 7, 2010 |df=mdy }}</ref> 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.

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1988035/nobel-winner-wants-die-peace-home-wife-says-she|title=" Nobel winner wants to die in peace at home, wife says, as she urges Hong Kong to change culture on end-of-life care", South China Morning Post Newspaper 2016|date=2016-07-10|access-date=December 16, 2017|archive-date=December 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216095813/http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1988035/nobel-winner-wants-die-peace-home-wife-says-she|url-status=live}}</ref> Kao died at [[Bradbury Hospice]] in [[Hong Kong]] on September 23, 2018, at the age of 84.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/2165405/nobel-prize-winner-and-hong-kong-native-charles-kao-dies-84|title=Hong Kong mourns passing of Nobel Prize winner and father of fiber optics, Charles Kao, 84|date=23 September 2018|access-date=23 September 2018|newspaper=South China Morning Post|location=Hong Kong|first1=Peace|last1=Chiu|first2=Abhijit|last2=Singh|first3=Jeffie|last3=Lam|archive-date=September 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180923204859/https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/2165405/nobel-prize-winner-and-hong-kong-native-charles-kao-dies-84|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.mingpao.com/pns/dailynews/web_tc/article/20180924/s00002/1537728560051|script-title=zh:諾獎得主光纖之父高錕逝世 慈善基金：最後心願助腦退化病人|date=24 September 2018|access-date=25 September 2018|newspaper=Ming Pao|location=Hong Kong|publisher=Media Chinese International|language=zh-hk|archive-date=September 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925180510/https://news.mingpao.com/pns/dailynews/web_tc/article/20180924/s00002/1537728560051|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|url=https://www.charleskaofoundation.org/#!/news/detail?id=DDHfBv46JG|title=In memory of Sir Charles K. Kao (1933-2018)|date=23 September 2018|access-date=25 September 2018|location=Hong Kong|publisher=Charles K. Kao Foundation for Alzheimer's Disease|archive-date=August 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819134642/https://www.charleskaofoundation.org/#!/news/detail?id=DDHfBv46JG|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/24/obituaries/charles-kuen-kao-dead.html |url-access=registration |title=Charles Kao, Nobel Laureate Who Revolutionized Fiber Optics, Dies at 84 |date=September 24, 2018 |access-date=26 September 2018 |newspaper=The New York Times |first=Mike |last=Ives |archive-date=September 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180924141443/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/24/obituaries/charles-kuen-kao-dead.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Recognition == === Awards === {| class="wikitable" ! Year ! Organisation ! Award ! Citation ! {{Reference column heading}} |- | 1977 | {{Flagicon|US}} [[Franklin Institute]] | [[Stuart Ballantine Medal]] | "Conceptual studies of lightguide communications using laser generated light waves guided in a hair-thin glass fiber for transmitting messages." | <ref>{{Cite web|title=Charles Kuen Kao|url=https://fi.edu/en/awards/laureates/charles-kuen-kao|url-status=live|publisher=[[Franklin Institute]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816172108/https://fi.edu/en/awards/laureates/charles-kuen-kao|archive-date=2024-08-16|access-date=2025-12-15}}</ref> |- | 1978 | {{Flagicon|US}} [[IEEE]] | [[IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award]]{{Efn|name=fn1|Shared with [[John B. MacChesney]] and [[Robert D. Maurer]].}} | "For making communication at optical frequencies practical by discovering, inventing and developing the materials, techniques and configurations for glass fiber waveguides." | <ref>{{Cite web|title=IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award Recipients|url=http://www.ieee.org/documents/liebmann_rl.pdf|url-status=dead|publisher=[[IEEE]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211541/http://www.ieee.org/documents/liebmann_rl.pdf|archive-date=2016-03-03|access-date=2011-02-27}}</ref> |- | 1978 | {{Flagicon|UK}} Rank Foundation | [[Rank Prize for Optoelectronics]]{{Efn|Shared with [[George Hockham]].}} | "For their outstanding contribution to research into the properties of clad optical fibres and their subsequent successful development leading to the commercial production of such fibres which are playing an increasing role into the field of communications." | <ref>{{Cite web|title=Optoelectronics winners|url=https://www.rankprize.org/prize/optoelectronics/winners/|url-status=live|website=www.rankprize.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250614111129/https://www.rankprize.org/prize/optoelectronics/winners/|archive-date=2025-06-14|access-date=2020-07-11}}</ref> |- | 1985 | {{Flagicon|US}} [[Marconi Society]] | [[Marconi Prize]] | "For being instrumental in contributing toward a revolution in communication techniques in the form of optical fiber technology." | <ref>{{Cite web|title=Sir Charles Kuen Kao, 1985|url=https://marconisociety.org/fellow-bio/sir-charles-kuen-kao/|url-status=live|publisher=[[Marconi Society]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250126073307/https://marconisociety.org/fellow-bio/sir-charles-kuen-kao/|archive-date=2025-01-26|access-date=2025-12-15}}</ref> |- | 1985 | {{Flagicon|US}} [[IEEE]] | [[IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal]] | "For pioneering contributions to optical fiber communications." | <ref>{{Cite web|title=IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal Recipients|url=https://www.ieee.org/content/dam/ieee-org/ieee/web/org/about/awards/recipients/bell-rl.pdf|url-status=dead|publisher=[[IEEE]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216193811/https://www.ieee.org/content/dam/ieee-org/ieee/web/org/about/awards/recipients/bell-rl.pdf|archive-date=2021-12-16|access-date=2023-08-23}}</ref> |- | 1987 | {{Flagicon|Japan}} NEC C&C Foundation | [[C&C Prize]] | "For Pioneering Contributions to the Realization of Optical Fiber Communications as the First to point out Theoretically the Feasibility and Significance of Low-loss Glass Fiber." | <ref>{{Cite web|title=Successive Recipients of C&C Prize|url=https://www.candc.or.jp/en/recipient.html|url-status=live|publisher=NEC C&C Foundation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250928024940/https://www.candc.or.jp/en/recipient.html|archive-date=2025-09-28|access-date=2025-12-15}}</ref> |- | 1989 | {{Flagicon|UK}} [[Institution of Electrical Engineers]] | [[Faraday Medal]] | align=center | — | <ref>{{Cite web|title=Awards and prizes index|url=https://www.theiet.org/membership/library-and-archives/the-iet-archives/iet-history/awards-and-prizes-index|website=www.theiet.org|access-date=2025-10-31}}</ref> |- | 1989 | {{Flagicon|US}} [[American Physical Society]] | [[International Prize for New Materials]]{{Efn|name=fn1}} | "For their contributions to the materials research and development that resulted in practical low loss optical fibers, one of the cornerstones of optical communications technology." | <ref>{{Cite web|title=James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials |url=http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/mcgroddy.cfm|website=www.aps.org|access-date=2023-10-08}}</ref> |- | 1992 | {{Flagicon|US}} [[SPIE]] | [[SPIE Gold Medal]] | align=center | — | <ref>{{Cite web|title=Gold Medal of the Society|url=http://spie.org/x3077.xml|url-status=dead|website=spie.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524031857/http://spie.org/x3077.xml|archive-date=2011-05-24|access-date=2009-10-06}}</ref> |- | 1996 | {{Flagicon|Japan}} Japan Prize Foundation | [[Japan Prize]] | "For pioneering research on wideband, low-loss optical fiber communications." | <ref>{{Cite web|title=The 1996 Japan Prize|url=https://www.japanprize.jp/en/prize_prof_1996_kao.html|url-status=live|website=www.japanprize.jp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007132044/https://www.japanprize.jp/en/prize_prof_1996_kao.html|archive-date=2022-10-07|access-date=2025-12-15}}</ref> |- | 1996 | {{Flagicon|UK}} [[Royal Academy of Engineering]] | [[Prince Philip Medal]] | align=center | — | <ref>{{Cite web|title=Previous winners|url=https://raeng.org.uk/programmes-and-prizes/prizes/prince-philip-medal/previous-winners/|url-status=live|website=raeng.org.uk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250118095410/https://raeng.org.uk/programmes-and-prizes/prizes/prince-philip-medal/previous-winners|archive-date=2025-01-18|access-date=2025-12-15}}</ref> |- | 1999 | {{Flagicon|US}} [[National Academy of Engineering]] | [[Charles Stark Draper Prize]]{{Efn|name=fn1}} | "For development of fiber-optic technology." | <ref>{{Cite web|title=1999 Winners: Charles K. Kao, Robert D. Maurer, and John B. MacChesney|url=http://draperprize.org/1999.php|url-status=dead|website=draperprize.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410082709/http://draperprize.org/1999.php|archive-date=2016-04-10|access-date=2026-02-13}}</ref> |- | 2009 | {{Flagicon|Sweden}} [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]] | [[Nobel Prize in Physics]]{{Efn|Shared with [[Willard Boyle]] and [[George E. Smith]].}} | "For groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication." | <ref name="Nobel Prize"/> |}

=== Memberships === {| class="wikitable" ! Year ! Organisation ! Type ! {{Reference column heading}} |- | 1979 | {{Flagicon|US}} [[IEEE]] | Life Fellow |<ref>{{Cite web|title=Fellows - K|url=http://www.ieee.org/web/membership/fellows/Alphabetical/kfellows.html|url-status=dead|publisher=[[IEEE]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406171213/http://www.ieee.org/web/membership/fellows/Alphabetical/kfellows.html|archive-date=2009-04-06|access-date=2009-10-26}}</ref> |- | 1989 | {{Flagicon|British Hong Kong}} Hong Kong Computer Society | Distinguished Fellow | <ref>{{Cite web|title=List of Distinguished Fellows|url=http://www.hkcs.org.hk/en_hk/intro/lof.asp|url-status=dead|publisher=Hong Kong Computer Society|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100507031712/http://www.hkcs.org.hk/en_hk/intro/lof.asp|archive-date=2010-05-07|access-date=2010-05-21}}</ref> |- | 1989 | {{Flagicon|UK}} [[Royal Academy of Engineering]] | [[Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering|Fellow]] | <ref>{{Cite web|title=List of Fellows|url=http://www.raeng.org.uk/about-us/people-council-committees/the-fellowship/list-of-fellows|url-status=live|publisher=[[Royal Academy of Engineering]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160608094405/http://www.raeng.org.uk/about-us/people-council-committees/the-fellowship/list-of-fellows|archive-date=2016-06-08|access-date=2014-10-20}}</ref> |- | 1990 | {{Flagicon|US}} [[National Academy of Engineering]] | Member | <ref>{{Cite web|title=Dr. Charles K. Kao|url=http://www.nae.edu/nae/naepub.nsf/Members+By+UNID/F7E1BFC515C219318625755200622DC4?opendocument|url-status=dead|website=www.nae.edu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528141942/http://www.nae.edu/nae/naepub.nsf/Members%2BBy%2BUNID/F7E1BFC515C219318625755200622DC4?opendocument|archive-date=2010-05-28|access-date=2009-10-26}}</ref> |- | 1992 | {{Flagicon|Taiwan}} [[Academia Sinica]] | [[Academician of Academia Sinica|Academician]] | <ref>{{Cite web|title=Charles K. Kao|url=https://academicians.sinica.edu.tw/index.php?r=academician-n%2Fshow&id=186|website=academicians.sinica.edu.tw|access-date=2023-09-16}}</ref> |- | 1994 | {{Flagicon|British Hong Kong}} [[Hong Kong Institution of Engineers]] | Honorary Fellow | <ref>{{Cite web|title=Our Heartiest Congratulations to Ir Prof Charles K Kao|url=http://www.hkie.org.hk/docs/newsviewer.asp?sn=78|url-status=dead|website=www.hkie.org.hk|date=2009-10-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721094436/http://www.hkie.org.hk/docs/newsviewer.asp?sn=78|archive-date=2011-07-21|access-date=2009-10-26}}</ref> |- | 1994 | {{Flagicon|British Hong Kong}} [[Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences]] | Honorary Fellow | <ref>{{Cite web|title=Fellows|url=https://hkae.hk/en/fellows/2#gsc.tab=0|url-status=live|website=hkae.hk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250518165820/https://hkae.hk/en/fellows/2#gsc.tab=0|archive-date=2025-05-18|access-date=2025-12-15}}</ref> |- | 1997 | {{Flagicon|UK}} [[Royal Society]] | [[Fellow of the Royal Society|Fellow]] | <ref>{{Cite web|title=Search Results|url=https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA4467&pos=1|website=catalogues.royalsociety.org|access-date=2025-12-15}}</ref> |}

=== Honorary degrees === {| class="wikitable" ! Year ! University ! Degree ! {{Reference column heading}} |- | 1990 | {{Flagicon|Taiwan}} [[National Chiao Tung University]] | [[Doctor of Engineering]] | <ref>{{Cite web|title=在台復校—國立交通大學|url=http://www.nctu.edu.tw/school/hist_05.html|url-status=dead|language=zh|website=www.nctu.edu.tw|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326130123/http://www.nctu.edu.tw/school/hist_05.html|archive-date=2010-03-26|access-date=2009-10-26}}</ref> |- | 1994 | {{Flagicon|UK}} [[Durham University]] | [[Doctor of Science]] | <ref>{{Cite web |title=Honorary Degrees|url=http://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/university.calendar/volumei/current/honorary_degrees.pdf|url-status=dead|website=www.dur.ac.uk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221101245/http://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/university.calendar/volumei/current/honorary_degrees.pdf|archive-date=2007-02-21|access-date=2009-10-26}}</ref> |- | 1998 | {{Flagicon|UK}} [[University of Hull]] | Doctor of Science | <ref>{{Cite web|title=Honorary Graduates - F to R|url=http://www2.hull.ac.uk/theuniversity/honorarygraduates/honorarygraduates2.aspx|url-status=dead|website=www2.hull.ac.uk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219071851/http://www2.hull.ac.uk/theuniversity/honorarygraduates/honorarygraduates2.aspx |archive-date=2016-12-19}}</ref> |- | 1999 | {{Flagicon|US}} [[Yale University]] | Doctor of Science | <ref>{{Cite web|title=Honorary Degrees|url=http://archives.news.yale.edu/v27.n33/story102.html|url-status=live|publisher=[[Yale University]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710224118/http://archives.news.yale.edu/v27.n33/story102.html|archive-date=2023-07-10|access-date=2024-08-09}}</ref> |- | 2002 | {{Flagicon|UK}} [[University of Greenwich]] | Doctor of Science | <ref name="Woolwich"/> |- | 2004 | {{Flagicon|US}} [[Princeton University]] | Doctor of Science | <ref>{{Cite web|title=Honorary degrees Awarded|url=http://www.princeton.edu/pr/facts/honorary/|url-status=dead|publisher=[[Princeton University]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921164328/http://www.princeton.edu/pr/facts/honorary/|archive-date=2008-09-21|access-date=2009-10-09}}</ref> |- | 2005 | {{Flagicon|Canada}} [[University of Toronto]] | [[Doctor of Laws]] | <ref>{{Cite web|title=List of Honorary Degree Recipients - Chronological Order|url=https://governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/secretariat/page/governance-bodies/committee-honorary-degrees/list-of-honorary-degree-recipients-chronological-order|url-status=live|publisher=[[University of Toronto]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250828144748/https://governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/secretariat/page/governance-bodies/committee-honorary-degrees/list-of-honorary-degree-recipients-chronological-order|archive-date=2025-08-28|access-date=2025-12-15}}</ref> |- | 2010 | {{Flagicon|UK}} [[University College London]] | Doctor of Science | <ref>{{Cite web|date=2010-06-17|title=UCL Fellows and Honorary Fellows announced |url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/1006/10061801|publisher=[[University College London]]|access-date=2010-06-19}}</ref> |- | 2011 | {{Flagicon|Hong Kong}} [[University of Hong Kong]] | Doctor of Science |<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Honorary Graduates|url=https://www4.hku.hk/hongrads/index.php/archive/graduate_detail/303|url-status=live|website=www4.hku.hk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925065418/https://www4.hku.hk/hongrads/index.php/archive/graduate_detail/303|archive-date=2018-09-25|access-date=2018-09-25}}</ref> |}

=== Chivalric titles === {| class="wikitable" ! Year ! Head of state ! Title ! {{Reference column heading}} |- | 1993 | {{Flagicon|UK}} [[Elizabeth II]] | Commander of the [[Order of the British Empire]] | <ref>{{London Gazette|issue=53153|supp=y|date=1992-12-31|page=17}}</ref> |- | 2010 | {{Flagicon|UK}} Elizabeth II | Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire | <ref name=KBE/> |}

=== National awards === {| class="wikitable" ! Year ! Award ! {{Reference column heading}} |- | 2010 | {{Flagicon|Hong Kong}} [[Grand Bauhinia Medal]] | <ref>{{Cite web|title=Honours List|url=https://www.admwing.gov.hk/eng/honours_awards/hon_list.html|website=www.admwing.gov.hk|access-date=2025-12-15}}</ref> |}

== Commemoration == [[File:HK SciencePark Auditorium.JPG|thumb|The landmark auditorium in the [[Hong Kong Science Park]] was named after Kao on December 30, 2009.]]

* The minor planet [[3463 Kaokuen]], discovered in 1981, was named after Kao in 1996. * 1996 (November 7): The north wing of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Science Center was named the Charles Kuen Kao Building.<ref name="榮休">{{cite web |date=September 1996 |title=Content of Chinese University Alumni Magazine |script-title=zh:高錕校長榮休誌念各界歡送惜別依依 |url=http://www.alumni.cuhk.edu.hk/magazine/sep96/html/P37-39.HTM |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724203514/http://www.alumni.cuhk.edu.hk/magazine/sep96/html/P37-39.HTM |archive-date=July 24, 2011 |access-date=October 6, 2009 |website=[[Chinese University of Hong Kong|CUHK]] Alumni website |publisher=[[Chinese University of Hong Kong|CUHK]] |language=zh-hk}}</ref> * 2009 (December 30): The landmark auditorium in the [[Hong Kong Science Park]] was named after Kao – the Charles K. Kao Auditorium.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.ifeng.com/hongkong/200912/1230_19_1493019.shtml |script-title=zh:香港两座建筑物将以高锟及饶宗颐名字命名(图) |trans-title=Two landmark buildings in Hong Kong are named after Charles K. Kao and Rao Zongyi (with photos) |publisher=[[Phoenix Television|Ifeng News]] |format=shtml |date=December 30, 2009 |access-date=January 3, 2009 |language=zh-cn |archive-date=October 6, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101006052651/http://news.ifeng.com/hongkong/200912/1230_19_1493019.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/31/content_12731860.htm |title=Hong Kong to name building after Nobel laureate Charles Kao |publisher=chinaview.cn |date=December 31, 2009<!-- 01:02:20 --> |access-date=January 3, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104164621/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/31/content_12731860.htm |archive-date=November 4, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> * 2010 (March 18): Professor Charles Kao Square, a [[Quadrangle (architecture)|square]] of the [[Independent Schools Foundation Academy]]<ref>{{cite web|url = https://academy.isf.edu.hk/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Newsletter201003.pdf|title = The ISF Academy Newsletter 2009/10 March 2010 Issue 3|publisher = Independent Schools Foundation Academy|date = March 2010|language = en|df = dmy-all|access-date = September 25, 2018|archive-date = September 25, 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180925065343/https://academy.isf.edu.hk/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Newsletter201003.pdf|url-status = live}}</ref> * 2014 (September): Sir Charles Kao UTC (now known as [[BMAT STEM Academy]]) was opened.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.harlow-college.ac.uk/about-us/sir-charles-kao-utc |title=Sir Charles Kao UTC |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714162842/http://www.harlow-college.ac.uk/about-us/sir-charles-kao-utc |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |df=mdy }}</ref> * 2014: Kao Data, a data center operator based on the former site of Sir Charles Kao's work on fibre optics cables, was founded.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://kaodata.com/about |title=Kao Data |df=mdy |access-date=April 20, 2021 |archive-date=April 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420161449/https://kaodata.com/about |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Others === * Featured in [[Science Museum (London)|Science Museum London]] * [[Hong Kong Affairs Adviser]] (May 1994 – June 30, 1997)<ref>[http://www.com.cuhk.edu.hk/varsity/9505/vicechan.htm A chat with vice-chancellor Kao] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205061247/http://www.com.cuhk.edu.hk/varsity/9505/vicechan.htm |date=December 5, 2007 }}, ''by Midori Hiraga''</ref><ref>The Standard: [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_print.asp?art_id=89308&sid=25752302 The day Nobel winner lost mic] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604143620/http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_print.asp?art_id=89308&sid=25752302 |date=June 4, 2011 }}</ref> * Advisor of the Macao Science and Technology Council<ref>XinhuaNet News: [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/07/content_12192183.htm Macao chief congratulates Nobel Prize winner Charles Kao] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091011050254/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/07/content_12192183.htm|date=October 11, 2009}}</ref> * 1999: [[Asian of the Century]], Science and Technology<ref name="Asiaweek Kao" /><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/features/aoc/ |title=Asian of the Century |magazine=[[Asiaweek]] |year=1999 |access-date=December 24, 2009 |archive-date=October 15, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015001933/http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/features/aoc/ |url-status=live }}</ref> * 2002: Leader of the Year – Innovation Technology Category, [[Sing Tao News Corporation|Sing Tao]], Hong Kong<ref name="Kao Medals CUHK">{{cite web |title = Medals Donated to CUHK by Professor Kao |url = http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/cpr/charleskao/medal-e.html |publisher = The Chinese University of Hong Kong |access-date = December 24, 2009 |archive-date = December 19, 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091219045356/http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/cpr/charleskao/medal-e.html |url-status = live }}</ref> * October 21, 2002: Inducted into the Engineering Hall of Fame, the 50th Anniversary Issue, ''Electronic Design''<ref>{{cite web |url = http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/Awards/ElectronicDesign/HallOfFame.html |title = Electronic Design, 50th Anniversary Issue |website = Electronic Design |date = October 21, 2002 |access-date = May 21, 2010 |archive-date = May 5, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100505203556/http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/Awards/ElectronicDesign/HallOfFame.html |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/Awards/ElectronicDesign/ED%20Hall%20of%20Fame%202002.pdf |title = ED Hall of Fame 2002 INDUCTEES |website = Electronic Design |date = October 21, 2002 |access-date = May 21, 2010 |archive-date = June 26, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100626105337/http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/Awards/ElectronicDesign/ED%20Hall%20of%20Fame%202002.pdf |url-status = live }}</ref> * January 3, 2008: Inducted into the Celebration 60, [[British Council]]'s 60th anniversary in Hong Kong<ref>{{cite web |url=http://innofoco.com/images/LBS_AlumniNews_118.pdf |title=Enter the Creative Dragon Feature |website=AlumniNews [[London Business School]] |issue=118 |date=January{{ndash}}March 2009 |access-date=May 21, 2010 |archive-date=July 31, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090731104155/http://www.innofoco.com/images/LBS_AlumniNews_118.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britishcouncil.org/60th_anniversary_e_final.pdf |title=British Council Celebrates 60 Years in Hong Kong |publisher=[[British Council]] |date=January 3, 2008 |location=Hong Kong |access-date=May 21, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606102811/http://www.britishcouncil.org/60th_anniversary_e_final.pdf |archive-date=June 6, 2011 |df=mdy }}</ref> * November 4, 2009: [[Honorary citizenship]], and the "Dr. Charles Kao Day" in [[Mountain View, California]], U.S.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ci.mtnview.ca.us/civica/press/display.asp?layout=1&Entry=288 |format=asp |title=City Press Release: Mountain View Honors Dr. Charles Kao for Being Awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics |publisher=Office of the City Manager, [[Mountain View, California]] |date=October 27, 2009 |access-date=January 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229232413/http://www.ci.mtnview.ca.us/civica/press/display.asp?layout=1&Entry=288 |archive-date=February 29, 2012 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> * 2009: Hong Kong's Person of the Year<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301945,nobel-laureate-charles-kao-is-named-hong-kongs-person-of-year.html |title=Nobel laureate Charles Kao is named Hong Kong's Person of Year |publisher=Earthtimes |date=January 4, 2010 <!-- 05:03:54 GMT --> |access-date=January 3, 2009 |archive-date=September 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910154126/http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301945,nobel-laureate-charles-kao-is-named-hong-kongs-person-of-year.html |url-status=live }}</ref> * The Top 10 Asian Achievements of 2009 – No. 7<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nwasianweekly.com/2009/12/the-top-10-asian-achievements-of-2009/ |title=The top 10 Asian achievements of 2009 |author=Evangeline Cafe |publisher=[[Northwest Asian Weekly]] |date=December 30, 2009 |access-date=January 3, 2009 |archive-date=January 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110108155959/http://www.nwasianweekly.com/2009/12/the-top-10-asian-achievements-of-2009/ |url-status=live }}</ref> * 2010 (February): Honoree, [[Committee of 100 (United States)|Committee of 100]], U.S.<ref name="Kao Committee100">{{cite web |author=Jane Leung Larson |date=February 2010 |title=2009 Nobel Laureate Charles Kao among Committee of 100 Honorees in San Francisco |url=http://committee100.typepad.com/committee_of_100_newslett/2010/02/2009-nobel-laureate-charles-kao-among-committee-of-100-honorees-in-san-francisco-.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717121707/http://committee100.typepad.com/committee_of_100_newslett/2010/02/2009-nobel-laureate-charles-kao-among-committee-of-100-honorees-in-san-francisco-.html |archive-date=July 17, 2011 |access-date=March 14, 2010 |publisher=[[Committee of 100 (United States)|Committee of 100]]}}</ref> * The 2010 [[Optical Fiber Conference|OFC]]/[[IEEE Communications Society|NFOEC]] Conferences{{Cref|e}} were dedicated to Kao, March 23–25, San Diego, California, U.S.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.photonicsonline.com/article.mvc/OFCNFOEC-2010-To-Be-Dedicated-To-Nobel-0001?VNETCOOKIE=NO |title=OFC/NFOEC 2010 To Be Dedicated To Nobel Laureate Charles Kao |format=mvc |publisher=Photonics Online |date=January 15, 2010 |access-date=January 20, 2009 |archive-date=July 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715082516/http://www.photonicsonline.com/article.mvc/OFCNFOEC-2010-To-Be-Dedicated-To-Nobel-0001?VNETCOOKIE=NO |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/OFCNFOEC-2010-Announces-bw-4259758386.html?x=0&.v=1 |title=OFC/NFOEC 2010 Announces Plenary Session Speaker Lineup |work=Yahoo! Finance |date=January 21, 2010 |access-date=January 20, 2009 }}{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="OFC/NFOEC Kao">{{cite web |url=http://www.ofcnfoec.org/media_center/ofc_releases/2010/CharlesKaoDedication.aspx |title=OFC/NFOEC 2010 to be Dedicated to Nobel Prize Winner and Industry Pioneer Charles Kao |format=aspx |publisher=OFC/NFOEC Press Releases |author=Angela Stark |access-date=January 20, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100709002209/http://www.ofcnfoec.org/media_center/ofc_releases/2010/CharlesKaoDedication.aspx |archive-date=July 9, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> * May 14–15, 2010: Two sessions were dedicated to Kao at the 19th Annual Wireless and Optical Communications Conference (WOCC 2010), Shanghai, P.R. China.<ref name="Kao WOCC2010">{{cite web |url=http://www.wocc2010.sjtu.edu.cn/ |title=The 19th Annual Wireless and Optical Communications Conference (WOCC 2010) |publisher=WOCC 2010 |year=2010 |access-date=May 26, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100417052134/http://www.wocc2010.sjtu.edu.cn/ |archive-date=April 17, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name="Kao Corning">{{cite web |url = http://www.it.com.cn/market/sh/viewpoint/2010/05/18/09/803789.html |script-title = zh:康宁公司在华开展光纤发明40周年庆祝活动 |publisher = 美通社（亚洲） |date = 2010-05-18 |access-date = May 26, 2010 |language = zh |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110722033428/http://www.it.com.cn/market/sh/viewpoint/2010/05/18/09/803789.html |archive-date = July 22, 2011 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all }}</ref> * May 22, 2010: Inducted into the [[souvenir|memento]] archive of the [[2010 Shanghai World Expo]]<ref name="Kao Expo 2010">{{cite news |url = http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2010-05/23/c_12130794.htm |script-title = zh:《世界百位名人谈上海世博》首发 |agency = Xinhua News Agency |date = 2010-05-23 <!-- 08:01:52 --> |access-date = May 26, 2010 |language = zh |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100621003218/http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2010-05/23/c_12130794.htm |archive-date = June 21, 2010 |df = mdy-all }}</ref> * Mid-2010: Hong Kong [[Definitive stamp|Definitive Stamp]] [[Sheet of stamps|Sheetlet]] (No. 1), Hong Kong<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hongkongpoststamps.com/eng/whats_new/2010/20100303a/index.htm |title=Hongkong Post Stamps – Hong Kong Stamps |publisher=[[Hongkong Post]] |access-date=Apr 8, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330080543/http://www.hongkongpoststamps.com/eng/whats_new/2010/20100303a/index.htm |archive-date=March 30, 2010 |df=mdy }}</ref> * March 25, 2011: [[Blue plaque]] unveiled in [[Harlow]], Essex, U.K.<ref name="Kao Plaque - Harlow">{{cite web |url=http://www.harlowstar.co.uk/News/Harlow-Nobel-Prize-winner-to-be-commemorated-in-town-centre.htm |title=Harlow Nobel Prize winner to be commemorated in town centre |website=HarlowStar |date=March 25, 2011 |access-date=April 29, 2011 |archive-date=July 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728085820/http://www.harlowstar.co.uk/News/Harlow-Nobel-Prize-winner-to-be-commemorated-in-town-centre.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> * November 4, 2014: ''Gimme Fibre Day'' on Kao's birthday, FTTH Councils Global Alliance<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.ftthcouncil.eu/home/gimme-fibre |title = Gimme Fibre Day - 4 November |website = Fibre to the Home Council Europe |access-date = June 2, 2014 |archive-date = April 27, 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140427195755/http://www.ftthcouncil.eu/home/gimme-fibre |url-status = live }}</ref> * November 4, 2021, [[Google]] celebrated Kao's birthday with a [[Google Doodle]]. The binary output in the graphic spells out 'KAO' when converted to ASCII.

== Works == * ''Optical Fiber Technology''; by Charles K. Kao. IEEE Press, New York, U.S.; 1981. * ''Optical Fiber Technology, II''; by Charles K. Kao. IEEE Press, New York, U.S.; 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]], U.S.; 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 fibre Communications''; by Yili Guo, Kin S. Chiang, E. Herbert Li, and Charles K. Kao. The Chinese University Press, Hong Kong; 2002, 600 pages.

== Notes == {{Notelist}}

== References == {{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading == * {{Cite book |last = Kao |first = Charles |title = Optical Fibre Systems: Technology, Design and Application |year = 1982 |publisher = McGraw-Hill Inc., US |location = New York, NY |isbn = 978-0070332775 |url-access = registration |url = https://archive.org/details/opticalfibersyst00kaoc }} * {{Cite book |last = Hecht |first = Jeff |title = City of Light, The Story of Fiber Optics |year=1999 |publisher = Oxford University Press |location = New York, NY |isbn = 978-0-19-510818-7 }} * {{cite journal |last1 = Kao |first1 = K. C. |last2 = Hockham |first2 = G. A. |year = 1966 | title = Dielectric-fibre surface waveguides for optical frequencies |journal = Proc. IEE |volume = 113 |issue = 7 |pages = 1151–1158 | doi=10.1049/piee.1966.0189}} * {{cite journal |last1 = Kao |first1 = K. C. |last2 = Davies |first2 = T. W. |year = 1968 |title = Spectrophotometric Studies of Ultra Low Loss Optical Glasses – I: Single Beam Method |journal = Journal of Physics E |volume = 2 |issue = 1 |pages = 1063–1068 |doi = 10.1088/0022-3735/1/11/303 |pmid = 5707856 |bibcode = 1968JPhE....1.1063K }} * K. C. Kao (June 1986), "[https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/home.jsp;jsessionid=FFB5A52997F09595BAEF9F065A8CFD4F 1012 bit/s Optoelectronics Technology]", ''IEE Proceedings'' '''133''', Pt.J, No 3, 230–236. {{doi|10.1049/ip-j.1986.0037}} * {{cite video|url=http://www.rthk.hk/tv/dtt31/programme/successstories2000/episode/528730|script-title=zh:高錕|work=傑出華人系列|date=2000|type=documentary and oral history|publisher=Radio Television Hong Kong|language=yue, zh, en|access-date=27 September 2018}} * {{cite web|url=https://ethw.org/Oral-History:Charles_Kao|title=Oral-History:Charles Kao|type=oral history transcript|date= 26 September 2018|orig-year=interview conducted in 2004|access-date=27 September 2018|work= Engineering and Technology History Wiki|others=Interview Conducted by Robert Colburn}} * {{cite book|title=A Time and A Tide: Charles K. Kao ─ A Memoir|first=Charles K.|last=Kao|type=autobiography|publisher=Chinese University Press|language=en|date=2010|isbn=9789629969721}} ** {{cite book|script-title=zh:潮平岸闊——高錕自傳|trans-title=A Time And A Tide: Charles K. Kao ─ A Memoir|date=2005|first=Charles K.|last=Kao|type=autobiography|publisher=Joint Publishing (Hong Kong)|language=zh-hk|translator=許迪鏘|isbn=978-962-04-3444-0}}

== External links == {{Wikiquote}} {{Commons category}} {{Portal|Physics|Telecommunication|Biography}} * [http://opticalfibrehistory.co.uk/ Optical Fibre History at STL] * {{Nobelprize}} including the Nobel Lecture 8 December 2009 ''Sand from centuries past; Send future voices fast'' * [[BBC]]: [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4671788.stm Lighting the way to a revolution] * Mountain View Voice: [http://www.mv-voice.com/news/show_story.php?id=2055 The legacy of Charles Kao] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215070505/https://www.mv-voice.com/news/2009/10/15/the-legacy-of-charles-kao |date=February 15, 2021 }} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140527220400/http://www.ingenia.org.uk/ingenia/articles.aspx?Index=606 Man who lit up the world – Professor Charles Kao CBE FREng] ''Ingenia'', Issue 43, June 2010

{{S-start}} {{S-ach}} {{S-bef|before=[[Andrew Viterbi]]}} {{S-ttl|title=[[IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal]]|years=1985}} {{S-aft|after=[[Bernard Widrow]]}} {{S-bef|before=[[Nick Holonyak]]}} {{S-ttl|title=[[Japan Prize]]|years=1996}} {{S-aft|after=[[Takashi Sugimura]] and<br />[[Bruce N. Ames]]}} {{S-bef|before=[[Yoichiro Nambu]],<br />[[Makoto Kobayashi (physicist)|Makoto Kobayashi]], and<br />[[Toshihide Maskawa]]}} {{S-ttl|title=[[Nobel Physics Prize|Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics]]<br /><small>with [[Willard Boyle]] and [[George E. Smith]]</small>|years=2009}} {{S-aft|after=[[Andre Geim]] and<br />[[Konstantin Novoselov]]}} {{S-aca}} {{S-bef|before=[[Ma Lin (educator)|Ma Lin]]}} {{S-ttl|title=[[Vice-Chancellor]] of the [[Chinese University of Hong Kong]] |years=1987–1996}} {{S-aft|after=[[Arthur Li]]}} {{S-end}} {{Nobel Prize in Physics Laureates 2001-2025}} {{2009 Nobel Prize Winners}} {{Ethnic Chinese Nobel laureates}} {{Charles Stark Draper Prize}} {{Japan Prize}} {{Chinese Academy of Sciences}} {{Telecommunications}} {{FRS 1997}} {{Authority control}}

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