CORNING, N.Y. | Corning Incorporated | September 25, 2023

Corning Incorporated’s Office of Racial Equality and Social Unity (ORESU) and SUNY Corning Community College announced today that freshman Romario Brown and sophomores Maximus Ikechukwu and Tonya Craige have been awarded the Mary Eliza Mahoney Nursing Education Scholarship, a two-year scholarship created to support students who have been underrepresented in health sciences.

The scholarship, named after the first Black person in the U.S. to earn a professional nursing license, includes all tuition and fees.

“This new scholarship is a wonderful opportunity that will help three of our students realize their dreams of becoming professional registered nurses,” said Krystal Jubilee, CCC director of nurse education. “This is life changing for our students.”

Dr. William P. Mullaney, CCC president, said the scholarship will allow students to focus their time and energy on their studies instead of how they finance their education.

“Being able to reduce the financial burden of our students helps them minimize their student loan debt, setting them up for success as they enter the workforce,” he said.

ORESU and CCC created the scholarship to help address a local nursing shortage by supporting students from racial and ethnic backgrounds that are historically underrepresented in health-related sciences. Award recipients agree to work in in a hospital system or medical provider’s office in Chemung or Steuben counties upon completion of CCC’s nursing prelicensure program, with a two-year commitment for full-time employment and a four-year commitment for part-time.

Michele Johnson, senior project manager, ORESU Community Affairs, said that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated an existing shortage of nurses, which hit Corning-area communities especially hard.

“The scholarship not only helps address this shortage, but also provides opportunities to remove barriers to degree completion that students of color may encounter along their higher education journey. This partnership is a win-win for the students, CCC, and the local community,” Johnson said.

The is the second ORESU-sponsored initiative focused on health care equity and education. Earlier this year, Corning and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer announced the Corning-MSK Health Equity Research Grant.

Dr. Millicent Ruffin, director, ORESU Community Affairs, said these kinds of partnerships help underscore ORESU’s mission to create sustainable change in the communities where Corning employees live and work.

“Our healthcare initiative is built on the idea that communities are healthy when people receive quality health care they can trust,” she said. “This new scholarship is a key initiative that directly helps strengthen the nursing pipeline in Chemung and Steuben counties specifically, as the entire country continues to face shortages.

About Corning Incorporated
Corning (www.corning.com) is one of the world’s leading innovators in materials science, with a 170-year track record of life-changing inventions. Corning applies its unparalleled expertise in glass science, ceramic science, and optical physics along with its deep manufacturing and engineering capabilities to develop category-defining products that transform industries and enhance people’s lives. Corning succeeds through sustained investment in RD&E, a unique combination of material and process innovation, and deep, trust-based relationships with customers who are global leaders in their industries. Corning’s capabilities are versatile and synergistic, which allows the company to evolve to meet changing market needs, while also helping its customers capture new opportunities in dynamic industries. Today, Corning’s markets include optical communications, mobile consumer electronics, display, automotive, solar, semiconductors, and life sciences.