Peter C. Schultz (born 1942) is an American academic who is co-inventor of the

fiber optics An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...

used for

telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

s. He is retired President (1988 to 2001) of Heraeus Tenevo Inc., a technical glass manufacturer specializing in fiber optics and semiconductor markets, and retired Chief Technical Officer North America for Heraeus Holding GmbH. In 2001, he was elected as a member into the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

for invention and development of manufacturing methods and glass compositions for low-attenuation glass fibers for optical communication.

Biography

Schultz was born in 1942 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

to a Czech-American mother and German-American father. He graduated in 1960 from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School in

Union County, New Jersey Union County is a County (United States), county in the northern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the county was the state's List of counties in New Jersey, seventh-most-populous county

.Staff
"New inductees to Scotch Plains-Fanwood H.S. Hall of Fame"
''Suburban News'', October 9, 2014. Accessed June 18, 2016. "Peter Schultz. Class of 1960. He invented an optical fiber which is the basis for the Internet." He attended

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

, where he earned a BS in Engineering. He and his wife Mary Anne are residents of St. Thomas, USVI. They have four children.

Career

He has taught at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

(Visiting Professor Materials Science 1978-1984),

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

(Continuing Engineering Program Professor 1976-1994) and

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

(Visiting Professor of Darden School 1988-1998). Since 2001 he has provided consulting services to several companies (including Intel, SEMATECH International, Yazaki, Furukawa, IMRA and SPI Lasers plc) and expert witness for several law firms, through Peter Schultz Consulting, LLC. He serves as senior advisor and board member of OFS (the Lucent fiber optics business unit acquired by Furukawa in 2001). He also serves as a board member of CBN Connect Inc., a non-profit company providing an open access broadband fiber-to-the-home system to the Adirondack region of NY. He is also president of a start-up company (BioSensor Inc., founded in 1997) developing a non-invasive fiber optic sensor to measure blood glucose for diabetics, based on Russian technology. He is a member of the Selection Committee for the National Medal of Technology and a board member of the

National Inventors Hall of Fame The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a US patent of significant technology. Besides the Hall of Fame, it also operate ...

. Schultz holds 26 patents, has written over 20 research papers and is an expert in fused silica glasses.

Awards and honors

In 1993 he was inducted into the

and in 2000 he received the National Medal of Technology from U.S. President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

for this accomplishment (the highest technology award of the US government). In 2000 the award was called National Medal of Technology. He was elected to member of the

in 2001. He is the recipient of the International Glass Science Award (1977),

SPIE SPIE (formerly the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers, later the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers) is an international not-for-profit professional society for optics and photonics technology, founded in 1955. It ...

Technology Achievement Award (1981), ASM Engineering Materials Achievement Award (1983), First American Innovators Award (US Dept. of Commerce 1995),

Distinguished Alumni (2000), the Czech Gold Medal for Achievement (President Havel 2002), Fellow of the

American Ceramic Society The American Ceramic Society (ACerS) is a nonprofit organization of professionals for the ceramics community, with a focus on scientific research, emerging technologies, and applications in which ceramic materials are an element. ACerS is located ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schultz, Peter C. 1942 births Living people National Medal of Technology recipients Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Engineers from Brooklyn Inventors from Brooklyn Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School alumni People from Union County, New Jersey Rutgers University alumni Fiber optics Fellows of the American Ceramic Society