February 2010 | By Jane Leung Larson
The newest Chinese American Nobel Laureate is Charles K. Kao, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009, for his optical fiber research. Kao, known as the Father of Fiber Optics, along with Nobel Laureates Daniel Tsui (Physics, 1998) and Chen Ning (Franklin) Yang (Physics, 1957), will receive the Chinese American Distinction award at the Committee’s 19th Annual Conference in San Francisco. Kao is a citizen of Great Britain and the U.S., where he lives in Mountain View.
Charles Kao and his Nobel Prize.
The 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics was shared three ways, with Kao receiving one-half for “"for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication." The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences described the significance of Kao’s work:
In 1966, Charles K. Kao made a discovery that led to a breakthrough in fiber optics. He carefully calculated how to transmit light over long distances via optical glass fibers. With a fiber of purest glass it would be possible to transmit light signals over 100 kilometers, compared to only 20 meters for the fibers available in the 1960s. Kao's enthusiasm inspired other researchers to share his vision of the future potential of fiber optics. The first ultrapure fiber was successfully fabricated just four years later, in 1970.
Today optical fibers make up the circulatory system that nourishes our communication society. These low-loss glass fibers facilitate global broadband communication such as the Internet. Light flows in thin threads of glass, and it carries almost all of the telephony and data traffic in each and every direction. Text, music, images and video can be transferred around the globe in a split second.
May W. (Gwen) Kao, the professor’s wife, presented the Nobel lecture in Stockholm on behalf of her husband, due to his debilitation from Alzheimer’s disease. She recalls how her husband would come home late for dinner night after night in the 1960s, much to her annoyance. He would tell her not to be so mad because his research would “shake the world one day.” Her rebuke was, “Oh, so you’ll get the Nobel Prize?”
The Nobel Prize lecture and presentation to Professor Kao can be found here.
Born in Shanghai, Kao moved to Hong Kong and was educated in England and spent much of his working career at ITT Corp in England and the U.S. and became ITT’s first Executive Scientist. At the Chinese University (CUHK) of Hong Kong, Kao established the Department of Electronics in 1970 and served a nine-year tenure as CUHK Vice-Chancellor [equivalent to university president in the U.S.] from 1987 to 1996. Kao recently returned to Hong Kong for a series of events and an exhibition in honor of his achievements in optic fiber communications, which Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang described as having “fundamentally transformed lives and the way we learn, play, communicate and conduct business.” Kao donated most of his Nobel Prize money to CUHK.
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