| (1896
- 1972) |
| Inducted: |
2007 |
| Region: |
U.S. |
| Industry: |
Manufacturing
|
|
Harold Boeschenstein, a native of southern Illinois, began his career with Illinois Glass, which later merged with the Owens Bottle Company to become Owens-Illinois in 1929. In the 1930s, scientists for both Owens-Illinois and the Corning Glass Works were independently developing processes to produce glass fibers. By combining their respective research activities, the two companies believed they could accelerate the process for producing glass fibers and more rapidly identify potential markets and products. By 1938, the progress was so promising that Owens-Illinois and Corning decided to form a separate company called Owens-Corning Fiberglass. Boeschenstein was selected to head this enterprise.
In the early years of World War II, Boeschenstein took a leave from the company to join the War Production Board, of which he later became operations vice chairman. After the war, as a recipient of the President’s Medal for Merit, he returned to lead the company full time. He led the company until he retired in 1967. Today, Owens Corning has sales in excess of $6 billion, operates in 26 countries, and employs more than 20,000 people worldwide.
In 1957, Boeschenstein was selected by Forbes magazine as one of its “Fifty Foremost Business Leaders.” |
