Presented by: His Excellency Javier Perez de Cuellar, Secretary General of the United Nations at the United Nations, New York City.

Dr. Kao is one of the most significant contributors to the field of fiber optic communications. He received this distinction as a result of his pioneering research while at ITT Corporation. His 1966 paper on the theory and practice of the use of optical fiber for communications applications was groundbreaking in its field. Dr. Kao later went on to help design some devices for use in optical military and civil communications.

In 2009, Dr. Kao received the Nobel Prize in Physics for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication.

Sir Charles Kuen Kao passed away in 2018.