Corning president, COO Eric Musser to retire

Corning (GLW) announced that Eric Musser, president and COO, will retire later this year after 39 years of service across the company. Musser will continue in his current role until his retirement. Corning also nnounced that Avery “Hal” Nelson III has been elected executive vice president effective May 1 and will assume the role of COO, effective following Musser’s retirement later this year; Lewis Steverson has been elected vice chairman and executive vice president effective immediately; and John Zhang has been elected executive vice president and chief corporate development officer effective immediately. Nelson, Steverson, and Zhang are all longstanding Corning veterans and senior executives who have served on the company’s Senior Leadership Team since its inception in 2020. In their new roles, the three leaders will work collaboratively with the rest of the Senior Leadership Team, including Ed Schlesinger, Corning’s executive vice president and CFO to ensure continuity of operational excellence, and they will play a vital role in the execution of the company’s high-confidence Springboard plan to add more than $4B in annualized sales, and to achieve operating margin of 20%, by the end of 2026. Nelson, in his new role as COO, will manage the company’s Market-Access Platforms to meet operating objectives and deliver financial and operational performance targets. Prior to his promotion, he had responsibility for the Automotive, Life Sciences, and Solar businesses and for pursuing growth opportunities in these markets. Steverson assumes the role of vice chairman in addition to his current role as executive vice president and chief legal & administrative officer. In this expanded role, he will serve as the primary advisor to the Board of Directors and the CEO and manage the Legal and Government Affairs functions in addition to the Office of the CEO. Steverson joined Corning as senior vice president and general counsel in 2013. Zhang, in his expanded role as executive vice president and chief corporate development officer, will be responsible for developing the company’s growth strategy, from partnerships to business-portfolio decisions. He will continue to lead global operations for Corning’s Display and Mobile Consumer Electronics Market-Access Platforms and will also assume leadership of the Life Sciences Market-Access Platform. Zhang joined Corning in 2008.