Professor Charles Kuen Kao CBE FRS FREng (traditional Chinese: 高锟; simplified Chinese: 高锟; pinyin: Gāo Kūn (Kao Kuen); born 4 November 1933) is a pioneer in the development and use of fiber optics in telecommunications. Kao, widely regarded as the "Father of Fiber Optic Communications",was awarded half of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics for "groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication".