Corning Inc. announced that Carlos M. Gutierrez, former US Secretary of Commerce, has been appointed to the company’s board of directors, effective today. Gutierrez will hold office as an independent director until Corning’s annual meeting of shareholders on April 29, 2010, when it is expected that he will be nominated to serve a three-year term. His appointment brings the number of Corning directors to 15; since 1990, the size of the board has ranged from 13 to 18. Gutierrez served as Secretary of Commerce from February 2005 through January 2009. He served as chairman and CEO of Kellogg Co. from April 2000 through February 2005. He is a director of United Technologies Corp. and a member of the board of trustees of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He studied business administration at the Monterrey Institute of Technology in Queretaro, Mexico.