Articles

Sir Charles Kao

TLDRoffon

It is with great sadness that we learnt of the death of Sir Charles Kao, one of our most distinguished alumni whose work "made the Internet possible."

Sir Charles Kao was one of our most distinguished alumni.  The time spent studying with us was clearly a key influence on his life and work.  We are proud of everything he has achieved and our part in his many superb accomplishments.
Professor David Maguire, Vice-Chancellor 

Sir Charles Kao was born on 4 November 1933. He died on 23 September 2018.

We are honoured to have Sir Charles, pictured right, as one of our Greenwich Portraits

He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009 for his ground breaking research into fibre optics and helped lay the technical groundwork for the information age.

Of his time at Woolwich Polytechnic, a predecessor of our university he said "student life is not all study or play, and Woolwich Polytechnic gave opportunities for students to grow into whole people."