In Memoriam: CorningWare Inventor Stookey ’37; Former Governor Moore ’45

The inventor of CorningWare, Donald Stookey ’37, died Nov. 4.

He described the discovery in an interview with The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa). While conducting research in his lab in 1952, he put some photosensitive glass into the furnace to heat it to 600 degrees. When he returned the gauge was stuck on 900 degrees.

“I saw the glass was intact and had turned a milky white. I grabbed some tongs to get it out as fast as I could, but the glass slipped and fell to the floor. The thing bounced and didn’t break.” Within a year, Corning Glass was selling CorningWare dishes.

After graduating from Coe College, Stookey attended Lafayette and received a master’s degree in chemistry. He earned a doctorate in chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Stookey was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1977, awarded the National Medal of Technology in 1986, and inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2010.

Arch Moore ’45, former governor of West Virginia and the only one to serve three terms, died Jan. 7, one day after his daughter, U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., was sworn into office.

Moore attended Lafayette before serving in the Army in World War II. He rose to the rank of sergeant and was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He received his law degree from West Virginia University and joined the family firm.

He was elected governor in 1968, 1972, and 1984. His tenure was notable for road- and bridge-building projects, pay raises for teachers, and improved benefits for welfare recipients.

But he also faced challenges such as a nationwide coal strike, a bloody prison riot, and the deaths of 125 people in the collapse of a coal waste dam on Buffalo Creek.