Hermann Anton Haus was a Slovene-American physicist, electrical engineer, and Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Haus' research and teaching ranged from fundamental investigations of quantum uncertainty as manifested in optical communications to the practical generation of ultra-short optical pulses. Haus authored or co-authored five books and published nearly 300 articles and presented his work at virtually every major conference and symposium on laser and quantum electronics and quantum optics around the world. He was awarded the National Medal of Science in 1995 and was adopted into RPI's Alumni Hall of Fame in 2007. He was born on August 8, 1925 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Haus received the Sc.D. from MIT in 1954, the same year he joined the faculty as an assistant professor. He became an associate professor in 1958 and a full professor in 1962. He was named an Institute Professor in 1986.

Haus' research and teaching ranged from fundamental investigations of quantum uncertainty as manifested in optical communications to the practical generation of ultra-short optical pulses. Ultra-short laser pulses find applications in eye surgery, medical imaging and precision clocks, as well as in ultrafast instrumentation and fiber-optic communications. In 1994, the Optical Society of America recognized Dr. Haus' contributions with its Frederic Ives Medal, the society's highest award. He died on May 21, 2003 in Lexington, Massachusetts, United States.