Bulletin No. 2, 2018

In Memory of Professor Sir Charles Kao 27 Those who have the good fortune of knowing him regard Professor Kao as a gentleman and a scholar. Staff members who had worked for him praise him for his openness and foresights on education and research. Students who once stood on the other side of the fence now recognize and admire his magnanimity. By the time Professor Kao was awarded the Nobel Prize, his health had made it impossible for him to deliver an acceptance speech or fully apprehend the significant legacy he had bequeathed to the world, but all this does not lessen in our hearts our respect and gratitude for him. His stature had not declined with his physical decline but endeared him way beyond the scientific and the academic communities. In 2010, Professor Kao and his wife Lady Gwen Kao set up the Charles K. Kao Foundation for Alzheimer‘s Disease Limited with an aim to promote society’s understanding of dementia, as well as offering assistance to patients and their families and caretakers. Friends and strangers who met him in his public appearances in his later years will never forget his childlike smile and bright-eyed sageness, and must have been moved by the mixed feeling of being disheartened and heartened at the same time. Rest in peace, Professor Kao! The light you brought on shall never dim. By S. Lo indelible mark on higher education’. Professor Kao published a paper in 1966, affirming the potential of optical fibre for data transmission, but it was only until years later that the impact of his research began to reach far and wide. His perseverance in research gave rise to epoch-defining contributions to modern communications and set the pace for how humans transfer and disseminate information. We owe to Professor Kao the convenience, efficiency and free flow of knowledge we enjoy today; it is therefore not an exaggeration to say that Professor Kao had forever changed the course of human history. However, he took very little credit for his huge contributions to humanity. Instead of filing a patent for his phenomenal discovery, he selflessly shared the technology with the world to ensure greater benefit for the general public. Professor Kao was the third Vice- Chancellor of the University (1987– 1996). He led the establishment of the Hong Kong Institute of Biotechnology, the Department of Information Engineering and the Faculty of Engineering during his vice- chancellorship. He also led CUHK to set up the Hong Kong Internet eXchange (HKIX) to speed up local Internet communications, and act as the Internet hub of the Asia-Pacific region. Professor Sir Charles Kao, former Vice- Chancellor of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, passed away on 23 September 2018 at the age of 84. Professor Kao’s passing was universally mourned by members of the University community and the general public alike. It was also widely covered in local and international media. His wake was held on 7 October. Thousands of people gathered at the Hong Kong Funeral Home to pay their last respects to the ‘Father of Fibre Optics’, whose pioneering work in the development and application of fibre optics in the area of communications had won him a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009. The funeral on 8 October was attended by over 450 government officials, leaders of the education and other sectors, colleagues, students, relatives and friends, among them was Mrs. Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor , Chief Executive of HKSAR, who was also one of the pall bearers alongside Prof. Rocky S. Tuan , Vice-Chancellor and President of CUHK, and others. Professor Tuan described Professor Kao in his eulogy as ‘a meticulous and insightful scientist whose accomplishments have inspired technological innovations throughout the world’ and also ‘a far-sighted and broad-minded thinker who left an