Corning Glass Works (NYSE: GLW (http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=GLW)) is a U.S. manufacturer of glass, ceramics and related materials, primarily for technical and scientific applications.

The company name adopted in 1989 is "Corning Incorporated", but the longer name is used here to distinguish the company from the community in which its headquarters is located, Corning, New York.

In the fall of 1970, the company announced that its researchers had succeeded in making an optical fiber useful for long distance communication, having an optical attenuation of only 17 dB per kilometer, by doping silica glass with titanium. That invention resulted in Corning Incorporated becoming the world's largest manufacturer of optical fiber by the 1990s.

Today (2004), Corning Incorporated is the world's dominant manufacturer of glass for liquid crystal displays in notebook and desktop computers and LCD televisions. The company continues to produce optical fiber and cable for communications, but at a reduced volume from the peak years of 1998-2000. It is also a major manufacturer of ceramic pollution control devices for catalytic converters in cars and light trucks that use gasoline engines. The company is also making a major investment in production of ceramic pollution control products for diesel engines as a result of tighter emission standards for those engines both in the U.S. and abroad.

Other notable products manufactured by Corning Incorporated include mirror blanks for some of the world's largest telescopes, windows for all U.S. Space Shuttles and Steuben art glass.

Corning Incorporated employs about 25,000 people worldwide and has annual revenues (2004) of $3.85 billion. It was for many years listed among Fortune magazine's 500 largest industrial companies, but lost that distinction when its revenues slumped as a result of the telecommunications industry collapse that began in 2001.

It traces its origins to a glass company established in Massachusetts in 1851 by a member of the founding Houghton family. Although the company is publicly owned, James R. Houghton, a descendant of the founder, serves as chairman and chief executive officer (2004).

Diversity

Corning Inc. was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in 2004 by Working Mothers magazine.

External links

• Corporate website (http://www.corning.com/)
• The Trials of Amory Houghton Jr. (http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/1977/0901/032.html), article in Forbes Magazine, September 1977, describing the company's mid-1970s crisis.
• 2003 annual report (http://www.corning.com/investor_relations/financial_reports/annual_reports/2003/index.aspx)
• Latest quarterly financial report. (http://www.corning.com/media_center/press_releases/2005/2005012501.aspx)