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Corning Salutes Inventors

Drs. Keck, Schultz and Maurer overlook Sullivan Park, where low-loss optical fiber became a reality in 1970.

August 2010
August is National Inventor’s Month, and Corning salutes inventors everywhere – the people who embody an unending spirit of innovation and discovery.

Corning’s long history of innovation is based on the inventive spirit of its people – the scientists, engineers, and others with a driving passion to solve difficult problems, pushing the boundaries of science along the way. Corning scientists thrive on seeking new opportunities to make a difference for mankind and focus on developing solutions to bring those technologies to life. They are recognized around the world for their pioneering work.

Eight Corning scientists are members of the National Inventors Hall of Fame:

• In 1993, Dr. Donald B. Keck, Dr. Peter C. Schultz and Dr. Robert D. Maurer earned the company’s first spots in the Hall of Fame for designing and producing the first optical fiber with optical losses low enough for wide use in telecommunications.
• In 2000, Dr. Franklin Hyde entered the Hall of Fame for his work involving organosilicon compounds. In the 1930s, he conceived of a chemical process, flame hydrolysis, to make the most immaculate commercial glass product on Earth – fused silica. This ultra-pure glass enabled advancements in specialty mirrors and telescopes and later in advanced telecommunications.
• In 2002, Dr. Irwin M. Lachman, Dr. Rodney D. Bagley, and Ronald M. Lewis became Hall of Fame members for their development of the extrusion method for forming thin-walled honeycomb structures – the basis for Corning’s environmental products business.
• Earlier this year, Dr. S. Donald Stookey entered the Hall of Fame for his invention of glass ceramics, the precursor to Corning’s successful line of CorningWare, first marketed in 1958.

Corning inventors have received the National Medal of Technology three times:

• Drs. Rodney D. Bagley, Irwin M. Lachman and Ronald M. Lewis received the National Medal of Technology in 2005 for their development of a high-performance cellular ceramic substrate that set the standard for vehicular catalytic converter efficiency worldwide.
• Drs. Donald B. Keck, Robert D. Maurer and Peter C. Schultz received the National Medal of Technology in 2000 for inventing low-loss optical fiber, a key enabler of the telecommunications revolution and the basis for one of the largest industries in the world today.
• Dr. S. Donald Stookey, a retired Corning research fellow, was awarded the National Medal of Technology by President Ronald Reagan in 1986for his invention of glass-ceramics, photosensitive glass and photochromic glass.

Learn more about Research & Development, and the people who make it happen, at Corning.