Born in Shanghai

1933

Completed secondary education at St. Joseph's College, Hong Kong

1952

Obtained BSc degree in Electrical Engineering at Woolwich Polytechnic (now the University of London)

1957 

Joined Standard Telecommunication Laboratories of ITT

1960

Obtained PhD degree in Electrical Engineering at University College London

1965  

Published a paper which proposed using glass fibers as a conductor for optic communication,  ushering in the era of optic fiber communication

1970

Joined ITT again, first as Chief Scientist and later as Director of Engineering

1974

Conferred the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa, by CUHK

1985

Became Vice-Chancellor of CUHK

1987

Led to establish Faculty of Engineering, CUHK

1991

• Retired in July from vice-chancellorship and appointed as Honorary Professor of Engineering

• A minor planet (3463) was named after him as ‘Kaokuen’ by the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

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1996

Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

2009