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

Corning Inc. Corning Incorporated is an American multinational technology company specializing in glass, ceramics, and related materials and technologies including advanced optics, primarily for industrial and scientific applications. The company was name ...

Education

Weeks received a bachelor's degree in accounting and finance from

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Bethle ...

, in 1981, and an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

in 1987.

Career

Corning

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. 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 The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

. He became chairman in April 2007. In 2023, Weeks's total compensation from Corning was $15.6 million, or 370 times the median employee pay at Corning for that year.

Non-executive roles

Weeks is a member of the national Business Roundtable and has been a member of the board of directors of

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

since February 2016.

Business philosophy

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. He regards failures as opportunities to learn.

Personal life

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

References

Living people American business executives Harvard Business School alumni Lehigh University alumni Amazon (company) people Year of birth uncertain Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-CEO-stub