While perhaps not a household name, Charles K. Kao is part of the reason you can be online today at all. Ka, known as the "Godfather of Broadband", the "Father of Fiber Optics", and the "Father of Fiber Optic Communications", laid the groundwork for fiber optic telecommunications and therefore the internet. He completed a Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 1965 from the University of London as an external student.