James B. Flaws has served as Corning’s vice chairman since 2002. Flaws served as Corning’s chief financial officer from 1997 to August 2015. In this role, he was responsible for all financial functions at Corning Incorporated, including accounting, control, investor relations, shared services, and treasury. He also oversaw the corporate communications function and chaired Corning’s risk council.

Flaws joined Corning Incorporated in 1973. He held a variety of positions within Corning's Consumer Products group, including division controller; general manager, Department Store Business; division vice president, Business Development; and vice president and chief financial officer.

Flaws was elected assistant treasurer of Corning Incorporated in 1993, and led the spinoff of Corning's health-care businesses in 1996. He was named vice president and controller in February 1997. In May of that same year, he was elected vice president, Finance, and treasurer of Corning Incorporated.

In December 1997, Flaws was named senior vice president, treasurer, and chief financial officer. He was named executive vice president and chief financial officer in December 1999, and elected to Corning’s board of directors in December 2000. In April 2002, Flaws was named vice chairman.

Flaws is on the board of directors for Dow Corning Corporation; chairman of the board of trustees for the Corning Museum of Glass; and a member of the board of trustees of the Corning Foundation. He is active with the local United Way, where he served as a board member for 17 years, board chairman for three years, and treasurer for 10 years. He is a past member of the board of directors of the Community Foundation and also of the Rockwell Museum of Western Art.

Flaws graduated from Tufts University with a bachelor's degree in engineering and received a master's degree from Dartmouth College. He was named a member of The Conference Board’s prestigious Council of Financial Executives in May 1999. Institutional Investor magazine named Flaws one of America’s Best CFOs in 2006, 2009 and 2011.