What a week. Leap year.  Jack Welch passes the very next day.  And, then Amo Houghton, who succumbed on 4 March.

Yeah, I know, you probably don’t know that last name.  But, you ought to.

Amory Houghton, Jr. was the 5^th generation of Houghton’s to head up what was then Corning Glass Works.  Yet, under Amo’s leadership, Corning ceased being the blue cornflower company, ceased relying on glass manufacturing, and became a high tech powerhouse in fiber optics and medical products.

Back in the early 1970’s, things were tough.  The national economic downturn was not kind to Corning.  And, while Amo worked hard to right the ship, he took some very hedgy bets- letting some very young folks lead the way to forge a new Corning.  One based upon fiber optic technology and medical technology.

Those challenges didn’t stop Amo from cheering on- and leading the charge- for the city of Corning to recover from the devastating floods of 1972. That was the kind of guy Amo was.

His philosophy meant he would effect constant contact with the echelons of  management within Corning. Ensuring their spirits were lifted and their focus on the plans for the firm.  A lover of technology and manufacturing, he was willing to jettison the legacy of his ancestors- from being the leading manufacturer of cookware, the purveyor of fine, crystal glassware, supplier to the industry of television tubes- to the 21^st century technologies he saw would be the savior of Corning. (Corning Glass Works was formed in 1851; it is now known as Corning Inc., after ceasing to be a family owned enterprise.)

(One of the funniest PUBLIC stories about Corning Glass Works- and most prescient- was when Dr. Don Stookey blundered and let some material cook in a furnace overnight.  Stookey was worried he’d have to explain to Amo’s father (Amory Houghton Sr.) how he ruined some glassware.  Thankfully, both Stookey and Houghton recognized the  value of this borosilicate discovery- which you know as Pyrex.  Serendipity at its best.)

Amo was what folks like me used to call “White shoe Republicans”, rich heirs who passed through the Ivy League colleges (Amory got his BA from Harvard in 1950 and his MBA- also from Harvard- in 1952), often socially smug with airs of worldly sophistication- that espoused what would now be termed liberal political philosophy.  (OK.  Heresy to the Republicans of today’s day and age.)

As a matter of fact, after serving as the head of Corning for two decades, Amory left to run for Congress.  Where he served for another two decades, ten terms for a conservative region, where he espoused more liberal ideas.  Whether it was raising the minimum wage, supporting abortion rights, precluding prayer in public schools,  reforming campaign finance (outlawing soft money), voting against the impeachment of Bill Clinton, the repeal of the estate tax (one of only 3 GOP members to do so), or against the invasion of Iraq, Amo stood for the liberal policy principles and conservative fiscal policies.

Amo believed that Corning was to be the master of technology- wherever that technology would lead it.  And, he had- and made sure the board backed him- the patience to make that change happen.

For that, I and the folks who gathered under the Corning banner, will always thank and remember him.

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