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Wendell Weeks

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Wendell Weeks
Born
Wendell P. Weeks

1959 or 1960 (age 64–65)[1]
NationalityAmerican
EducationLehigh University (BS)
Harvard University (MBA)
OccupationBusinessman
TitleChairman, CEO, and president, Corning Inc.
TermApril 2007-
SpouseKim Frock
Children2

Wendell P. Weeks (born 1959/60) is an American businessman, the chairman, CEO, and president of Corning Inc.

Education

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Weeks received a bachelor's degree in accounting and finance from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1981, and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1987.[1][2]

Career

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Corning

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Weeks joined Corning in 1983. He held a variety of financial, business development, commercial, and general management roles, including strategic positions in the company’s television, specialty glass, and optical communications businesses.

In 1996, Weeks was named vice president and general manager of Corning’s optical fiber business, a tenure which included managing through a major sales downturn.[3]

Weeks has been a director of Corning since December 2000.

He was promoted to chief executive officer in April 2005. A notable action was rapid movement into production of Gorilla Glass, for the new iPhone.[4][5]

He became chairman in April 2007.[6][1]

In 2023, Weeks's total compensation from Corning was $15.6 million, or 370 times the median employee pay at Corning for that year.[7]

Non-executive roles

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Weeks is a member of the national Business Roundtable[8][9] and has been a member of the board of directors of Amazon.com since February 2016.[1]

Business philosophy

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Weeks has said that "If you’re going to sustain as an institution, you have to focus on problems that matter. For Corning, some of those things are cleaner air; safer, more effective medicines; and fast, reliable communication. A company’s value is ultimately measured by whether or not it does good in society." He believes that creative destruction is an important part of capitalism, but so is collaboration.[10] He regards failures as opportunities to learn.[11]

Personal life

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Weeks met his wife, Kim Frock, at Harvard Business School.[10] She worked at Corning and helped initiate and volunteered with a local school project. They have two children.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Wendell P. Weeks: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  2. ^ "Wendell P. Weeks, MBA 1987 - Alumni - Harvard Business School". hbs.edu. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Q&A: Corning's Comeback Ceo". Newsweek. 28 January 2007.
  4. ^ "12 Years Ago, Steve Jobs Taught an Astonishingly Effective Leadership Lesson in 5 Short Parts". 14 July 2019.
  5. ^ https://www2.willworkinc.com/dont-be-afraid-one-of-historys-greatest-innovators-and-inventors-issues-a-challenge/ [dead link]
  6. ^ "Wendell P. Weeks - Our Leadership - Corning". www.corning.com. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  7. ^ Anderson, Sarah (2024-08-29). "Executive Excess 2024: The "Low Wage 100" corporations are enriching CEOs at the expense of workers and long-term investment" (PDF). Institute for Policy Studies. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-08-29. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  8. ^ Nelson, Louis (2024-06-23). "Hillary Clinton racks up business endorsementsg". www.politico.com. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  9. ^ "Skills for a Strong Economy" (PDF). www.arkleg.state.ar. Business Roundtable. 2019-06-15. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  10. ^ a b "Wendell Weeks: Making Corning Even More Durable".
  11. ^ "Failure as opportunity to learn: Q&A with Corning CEO Wendell P Weeks". 30 September 2009.
  12. ^ "One School at a Time - Alumni - Harvard Business School". 27 March 2012.