Fiber Broadband Association Honors Stephen Hardy with Fiber Lifetime Achievement Award

Long-time industry editor receives tribute at Fiber Connect 2023 for his dedication to the fiber broadband industry.

ORLANDO, Fla.--During the Fiber Connect 2023 trade show this week, the Fiber Broadband Association presented Stephen Hardy with a Fiber Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his more than 40 years of covering the industry. Hardy, who retired at the end of June, as Editorial Director for Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, has been a trusted pillar of the fiber broadband editorial community, leaving an editorial legacy that will be difficult to match.

“Stephen has been a fixture of the Fiber Broadband Association community. He has dedicated his entire career to reporting on the telecom industry’s ups and downs, innovations, trends, and market pressures and did it fairly and accurately,” said Gary Bolton, President and CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association. “He has been a trusted source in the telecom industry and while we wish the best for him in his retirement, we will miss him dearly.”

Hardy wrote thousands of stories and millions of words as he interviewed tech titans, innovative thinkers, market visionaries, and companies that reshaped markets. After completing his Master’s Degree at Brown University in 1981, he began his career at Telecommunications Magazine as Managing Editor before serving other publications, including the Journal of Electronic Defense, Portable Design, Lightwave, and Broadband Technology Report. During his tenure at Lightwave, the publication received awards from Folio and the American Society of Business Press Editors for editorial excellence.

The Fiber Broadband Association presented Hardy with the Fiber Lifetime Achievement Award on Tuesday, August 22, during general sessions at Fiber Connect 2023.

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About the Author

Sean Buckley

Sean Buckley

Sean is the Editor-in-Chief of Lightwave. He establishes and executes Lightwave's editorial strategy across its website, email newsletters, events, and other information products. Before coming to Lightwave in July 2023, he served as editor of Broadband Communities. Earlier, he served as senior editor of FierceTelecom and the editor of the former Telecommunications Magazine. He got his start in the optical industry in 1998 when he became the editor of enterprise and optical networks at Information Gatekeepers. He has a BA in English from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and lives in Dracut, Mass, with his wife, two sons, and his cat, Dove. 

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