The Bealls are a legacy of innovation

For Douglas and Thomas Beall, some of their earliest memories of Corning didn’t happen in a lab or at a plant. They happened in the driveway.

Their father, Dr. George Beall, would sometimes bring home samples of materials he was working on and hand them over with a challenge: Can you break this new composition of glass?

"We were happy to run out to the driveway and try to smash it,” Doug remembers.

Like the company itself, which celebrates 175 years of innovation in 2026, curiosity, problem-solving, and a hands-on love of discovery have connected one generation of Bealls to the next.  

Coming to Corning as a geologist in 1962, Dr. Beall’s background in crystals and mineral structures made him a natural match for an interview with Dr. S. Donald Stookey, Corning’s legendary inventor of glass-ceramics.

“He was so interested in learning about crystals that could be produced in glass,” George recalled of Dr. Stookey. “He felt that I had the right background.”

That meeting changed the course of George’s career – and eventually, his family’s as well.

Over more than six decades, George became one of Corning’s most accomplished scientists. His work helped expand glass-ceramics far beyond cookware into important technologies used across industries. Among his many contributions were innovations behind transparent cooktops and strengthened, transparent glass-ceramic materials used in today’s mobile devices. 
 

From one career to many

Dr. Beall never pushed his children to work at Corning.

“They just liked it here,” Dr. Beall said. “They made their own decisions.”

Doug worked summer jobs at Corning while attending college. After graduating in 1988, he joined full time. He’s now a Development Fellow working with ceramics. 

Now, nearing four decades at Corning, Doug still sees it as a place where interesting problems are meant to be solved.

“I’ve always found the work I was doing to be really fulfilling and fun,” Doug said. “Corning has given a lot of freedom in approaching problem-solving.”

Dr. Beall’s son Thomas took a different route. Looking for experience in intellectual property as a law student, he reached out to Corning’s legal department and asked if he could spend part of a summer there – even offering to work for free.

That initiative paid off. Tom became the first summer intern in Corning’s law department and later joined the company full time. Now, after 30 years at Corning, he has built a career protecting the company’s innovations across businesses and around the world. 

“For a patent lawyer, you look for two things,” Tom said. “One is really interesting technology to work on, and number two would be challenging legal issues to solve. And this company brings those two things in spades.”

His work has even crossed paths with his family’s, including writing patents for his father, George, and helping protect innovations that began in Corning’s labs.
 

A new generation continues the story

The Beall legacy at Corning now extends to a third generation with Jonathan Beall, who has been with the company for five years as a ceramic engineer in Manufacturing, Technology, and Engineering. 

Jonathan says Corning has been part of his life for as long as he can remember. Visits to his grandparents’ house often included George showing rocks and minerals to the grandchildren. Later, internships and family connections gave Jonathan a closer look at the company’s work and culture.

“It was always home,” Jonathan said. “All the roads were going to take me back here.”

Today, Jonathan values both the technical variety of his role and the personal connection that comes with being part of a family story at Corning. At the same time, he is mindful of carrying a name that many people across the company already recognize.

“You walk through the halls, you see photos of your family, and it’s a lot to live up to,” he said. “But I’m just trying to do my part one day at a time.”