Fiber Optics for Communications: The Invention, World Impact and Future Directions

Peter C. Schultz, PhD
Co-inventor
Fiber Optics

Abstract: As co-inventor of fiber, Peter Schultz will give a firsthand view of the breakthroughs that led to global fiber communications. He will discuss the impact of fiber networks on society and a glimpse at future directions of the technology.

Biography: Peter C. Schultz, Ph.D., is co-inventor of the fiber optics used worldwide for telecommunications. He is an internationally-recognized scientist and has received numerous awards for his technical achievements. In 1993 he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and in 2000 received the National Medal of Technology from President Clinton for his accomplishments (the highest technology award of the US government). In 1991, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He is an expert in fiber optic technology (including telecommunication fibers and both terrestrial and undersea deployment, as well as specialty fibers for sensors) and general materials technology.

He was President and Chief Technology Officer of Heraeus Inc. (1988-2001), the 900-employee US subsidiary of a multibillion dollar private German company serving the fiber telecom, semiconductor and optics markets. He was also VP Technology (1984-1988) for SpecTran Corp (a large Massachusetts-based fiber optics manufacturer) and Senior Scientist for Corning, Inc. (1967-1984).

Since 2001 he has provided technical and business consulting services through Peter Schultz Consulting, LLC to numerous international companies, including Intel Corp, IMRA, Spread Networks, Seagate Technology, Yazaki and SPI Lasers plc, as well as expert witness in various patent infringement and litigation cases. He served (2001 thru 2019) as senior advisor and sole outside Board member of OFS Fitel (the AT&T fiber optics business unit acquired by Furukawa in 2001) and as Director, Secretary and advisor (2010 through 2019) and Interim CEO (2016) of viNGN (Virgin Islands Next Generation Network), an open access all-fiber optic telecom system in the US Virgin Islands. In 2024 he was appointed a senior advisor to the telecom sector of Alvarez & Marsal (an international consulting firm).

He is a graduate of Rutgers University (B.S.1964, Ph.D.1967) and the MIT Sloan School Senior Executive Program (1984). Peter Schultz holds 26 patents, has written over 23 research papers and is the recipient of numerous other awards recognizing his achievements, including the American Innovator Award (first recipient-US Dept. of Commerce 1995) presented by Ron Brown (Secretary of Commerce), and the Czech Gold Medal for Achievement presented by President Havel in 2002.