C Kumar N Patel was born in Baramati, India in 1938. He received his bachelor’s degree in telecommunications from Poona University at the age of 19 (1958), then came to the US for graduate school. He earned an MS (1959) and PhD (1961) in electrical engineering from Stanford University. He was then hired by AT&T Bell Labs, where he worked for over 30 years.

Upon joining Bell Labs in 1961, Patel began doing fundamental research in laser action in the pure rare gasses. This led him to discover laser action in carbon dioxide (1963). Patel added to this discovery his invention of efficient vibrational energy transfer between molecules, and the combination allowed him to invent the nitrogen carbon dioxide (CO2) laser—the first gas laser to produce high power radiation continuously (1964). In communications, the CO2 laser forms the basis of a number of optoelectronic subsystems, some developed by Patel himself.

Patel’s research in nonlinear optics led to the creation of the "spin-flip" Raman laser—the first tunable infrared laser (1969). In total, Patel has earned 36 US patents for lasers and their applications.

In the early 1980s, Patel was appointed director of AT&T Bell Labs’ electronics research lab. Patel earned a reputation for energetic support of others’ work and for opening new areas of innovation. In 1993, the University of California at Los Angeles recruited Patel to be its vice-chancellor for research. At UCLA, where he is now also professor of physics, Patel has overseen the improvement, modernization and expansion of many research programs. Patel won the US National Medal of Science in 1996.n