Iowa State University Alumni Association| online edition | fall 2006

FALL 2006
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• On science, creativity, and cooking
• In science, one is not the loneliest number
• Bacteria Buster
• GAMESS people play
• Boldly going where no man has gone before
• Have mercy!
• The $12 billion man
• I think we can help
• Chemistry alumni and faculty of note
• Henry Gilman: Iowa State's master chemist
• Chemistry experiments with a new way to teach
• The campaign for chemistry

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Special Olympics USA National Games

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STEPHANIE BURNS: DOW CORNING PRESIDENT AND CEO
'I THINK WE CAN HELP'

From her office overlooking a lush, green corporate campus in Midland, Mich., Stephanie A. Burns manages the activities of Dow Corning, a company that generates nearly $4 billion in annual sales and has more than 9,000 employees worldwide.

But on this warm June morning, Burns’ focus is not on expanding global markets or increasing the uses for silicon technology. Today she’s getting ready to take a team of Dow Corning scientists to Washington, D.C., to meet with top science foundations to discuss how industry can partner with academics to meet the challenges of science education in the United States.

Burns is concerned that U.S. youngsters are falling
behind in the areas of science and math when compared with children in China and other countries.

“Boys and girls love science through grade school,” she says. “But something happens in middle school, especially for girls. There’s the stereotype that a high school girl is more looked up to if she’s a cheerleader than if she’s a science whiz.”

Dow Corning and other chemical companies are already working to improve science education in their own communities, but Burns believes they could provide a powerful force if they brought all the CEOs together and do “something more across the country.”

“We’re investigating what we can do to make a greater impact if we bring industry and academics together.”
Stephanie Burns’ own education began in Florida, with an undergraduate degree in chemical technology from Florida International University in Miami. There she was exposed to the study of silicon chemistry, and she pursued that field at Iowa State, where she got her Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1982. After a year of post-doctoral study in France, Burns went to work full-time as a research chemist at Dow Corning.

After conducting silicon-chemistry research in the United States and Europe, Burns was approached by Dow Corning to become a part of the management team in a position that would be responsible for product development and working with customers.

Burns progressed to executive vice president in 2000, was named president and chief operating officer in 2003, and became CEO in 2004. She also serves as chairman of the board.

Burns’ quiet, people-centered leadership style served Dow Corning well in the 1990s when she was director of women’s health. It was during that time that the company was faced with lawsuits from women who had used silicone breast implants. Burns was a member of Dow Corning’s bankruptcy management team formed after the women’s lawsuits forced the firm to offer $3.2 billion to settle their claims.

“It was very challenging,” she says. “I learned probably the most of any other time in my career. You just learn about reaching out to constituencies and communicating. It was also a learning period for me in terms of risk management, for this product that was never more than 1 percent of our sales.”

Dow Corning has regained its strength in the marketplace, with more than 7,000 silicon-based products and related services used in the manufacture of cosmetics, computers, household cleaners, automotives, electronics, textiles, personal and healthcare products, the construction industry, and more. The company has 45 sales, manufacturing, and warehouse locations worldwide, with 65 percent of its sales outside the United States.

Burns received the 2006 Vanguard Award by the Chemical Education Foundation, was recognized as Michigan Woman Executive of the Year, and has appeared on Forbes.com’s list of “Most Powerful Women.” She is married to Gary Burns, who holds a 1981 Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Iowa State.

Read on | Chemistry alumni and faculty of note

About the Writer | Carole Gieseke is the editor of VISIONS magazine.