Corning Chairman and CEO to Step Down

Roger Ackerman, who transformed Corning Inc. from a company best known for oven ware into the No. 1 fiber-optic cable firm, will step down as chief executive and chairman. Ackerman, 62, will retire as chief executive Jan. 1, Corning said. He will be replaced by President and Chief Operating Officer John Loose, 58. Ackerman will remain as chairman until Corning’s annual meeting June 21, when he will retire. Ackerman said he had planned to retire after five years when he took over the top jobs in 1996. Corning also said Vice Chairman Norman Garrity, 59, will retire in March and Charles Deneka, chief technology officer, will retire Jan. 1. Corning became a Wall Street darling as the world’s biggest supplier of glass fiber cables that are the backbone of the Internet. Shares of the Corning, N.Y.-based company closed up 63 cents at $69.75 on the NYSE.