Robert Mano Fano (1917- ) is professor emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Fano is known principally for his work on information theory, inventing (with Claude Shannon) Shannon-Fano coding. In the early 1960s, he was involved in the development of time-sharing computers, and served as director of MIT's Project MAC from its founding in 1963 until 1968.

Fano was born in Torino (Turin), Italy, where he lived and studied engineering (as an undergraduate at the School of Engineering of Torino) until 1939, when he emigrated to the United States. He received his S.B. in electrical engineering from MIT in 1941, before joining the staff of the MIT Radiation Laboratory. After the war, he received a Sc.D., also from MIT; he joined the MIT faculty in 1947. Between 1950 and 1953, he led the Radar Techniques Group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory.

In addition to his work in information theory, Fano also published articles and books about microwave systems, electromagnetism, network theory, and engineering education. His book-length publications include:

• George L. Ragan, ed., Microwave Transmission Circuits, vol. 9 in the Radiation Laboratory Series (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1948), as a co-author.
• Electromagnetic Energy Transmission and Radiation (New York: Wiley, 1960), with Lan Jen Chu and Richard B. Adler.
• Electromagnetic Fields, Energy, and Forces (New York: Wiley, 1960), also with Chu and Adler.
• Transmission of Information: A Statistical Theory of Communications (New York: Wiley and MIT Press, 1961).

Fano is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He received the Claude E. Shannon Award in 1976 for his work in information theory.