Senior Vice President, Emerging Innovations Group
Ronald Verkleeren is senior vice president, Emerging Innovations Group. In this role, Verkleeren is responsible for connecting Corning’s extraordinary materials and process capabilities to new market opportunities and building new growth platforms and businesses from innovations in glass, ceramic, and other materials.
Verkleeren began his career at Corning in 2001 in the Optical Communications segment where he held positions in strategy, marketing, and product management. He joined the Life Sciences segment in 2004 where he held a variety of roles of increasing responsibility. In 2010, he was named division vice president and director of Advanced Life Sciences. In 2012, he was named division vice president and program director for Corning Pharmaceutical Technologies and was then appointed vice president and the first general manager of the newly created Pharmaceutical Technologies division in 2015. In 2020, he was appointed senior vice president and general manager of the Life Sciences Market-Access Platform (MAP).
During his 23 years with Corning, Verkleeren has led several businesses as well as numerous innovation and growth initiatives. In Optical Communications, he launched the first modular optical amplifiers. During his tenure in Life Sciences, he led major innovations, launched multiple product platforms, negotiated multi-year agreements with leading pharmaceutical manufacturers, and secured first-in-class approvals with the FDA and EMA. Verkleeren also initiated and led several M&A transactions and integrations.
Prior to Corning, Verkleeren held a variety of positions in research, development, and manufacturing at Ford Motor Company. He holds 22 U.S. patents and has authored several technical publications.
Verkleeren earned a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Penn State University as well as a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan.
