Donald B. Keck, Ph.D.

Professor, Institute for Advanced Discovery & Innovation at University of South Florida
Vice President and Research Director, Retired, Corning Incorporated

36 U.S. Patents

Donald B. Keck is a pioneering physicist and inventor whose work fundamentally transformed optical communications. In 1970, he together with colleagues Robert Maurer and Peter Schultz, co-invented low-loss optical fiber, a breakthrough that launched the fiber-optic telecommunications revolution and enabled the Internet. Since its discovery, Keck’s low-loss optical fiber has replaced copper wire as the principal medium for high-speed data transmission and enabled enormous increases in bandwidth, speed, reliability, and efficiency. Today, with more than 8 billion kilometers of optical fiber deployed worldwide, fiber-optic networks form the backbone of global communications, supporting the Internet, mobile communications, cloud computing, streaming media, international commerce, financial systems and critical infrastructure.

Keck retired in 2002 as Vice President and Research Director for Corning Incorporated, where he played a central role in advancing optical communications from laboratory research to widespread commercial deployment for over 40 years. Following his retirement, Keck continued to advance innovation, serving as Chief Technology Officer of the Infotonics Technology Center, and participating on the committee that recommends nominees for the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to the President of the United States. His leadership roles have included service on the congressional oversight board for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), chair of the Board of Directors for the Optoelectronics Industry Development Association (OIDA), service as a past president of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and board membership with PCO, Inc. and the Optical Society of America.

Additionally, Keck continues to contribute to research, innovation, and mentorship through his role as Professor at the University of South Florida’s Institute for Advanced Discovery & Innovation, where he supports faculty, students, and aspiring innovators, sharing the practical insight of a career spent turning scientific discovery into world-changing technology. His mentorship and service reflect a lifelong commitment not only to invention, but to cultivating the next generation of scientists, engineers, and innovators.

Keck holds 36 U.S. patents and his research spans molecular spectroscopy, gradient-index and aspheric optics, guided wave optics, optical fiber sensing, and optical fiber waveguides and communication. Over the course of his career, he authored more than 150 scientific papers related to optical waveguides, fiber fabrication, optical couplers, polarization-retaining fibers, dispersion-managed waveguides and related technologies.

Keck is an inductee of the National Inventors Hall of Fame and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He is a Fellow of IEEE and the Optical Society of America and has served on multiple U.S. National Research Council panels. Among his many honors are the U.S. President’s National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the U.S. Department of Commerce American Innovator Award, the John Tyndall Award, the SPIE Technology Achievement Award, and the Distinction in Photonics Award. He also received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Keck earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in physics from Michigan State University, where he has been recognized as a distinguished alumnus.