Katherine A. Asbeck.

• Author: Heffes, Ellen M.
• Position: Balance Sheet - Profile of Corning Inc. Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller - Brief Article

Kate Asbeck's career has taken her from internal auditor, to outside auditor (public accounting), to a financial leadership position at Corning Inc., a 150 year-old technology company that is focused on recreating itself. She say she's enjoyed the career switch -- from looking backward to looking forward and planning.

Name: Kate

Title: Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller

Company: Corning Inc. -- manufactures optical fiber, cable and photonic products for the telecommunications industry; and high-performance displays and components for television, information technology and other communications-related industries. The company also uses advanced materials to manufacture products for scientific, semiconductor and environmental markets. (For readers wondering why there is no mention of the famous Corningware cookware -- that division was sold in 1997.)

Born: Seattle, Wash., Dec. 9, 1956

Spouse: Richard Asbeck; married for 20 years (Labor Day weekend)

Children: No children, but a "goody aunt" to 14 nieces and nephews

Education Summary: BA, Ohio Wesleyan University, 1979

Career Summary: 1979-'81, Internal Auditor, Champion International, Hamilton, Ohio; 1981-'91, Price Water-house, Cincinnati, Ohio, advancing to senior audit manager; l991-present, Coming Inc., Corning, N.Y. advancing to Senior VP and Corporate Controller.

Leisure: "Family, boating, waterskiing, travel, cooking, reading. We spend summer weekends at Lake Chautauqua. I enjoy time spent on our speed-boat, and I learned how to waterski last summer. Other international travel includes Hawaii and the Caribbean. I've always enjoyed cooking; and, having grown up in a large family, where mealtimes are important, I enjoy cooking for a crowd. I especially enjoy cooking with my sister, and I often cook on Sundays."

FEI Chapter: Rochester (inactive, as it's a two-hour drive). A member of FEI's Committee on Corporate Reporting (CCR).

Time Management: "It's constant reprioritization, saying 'no' and learning to control your time by going with the flow. This means not getting upset or frustrated when -- over the course of a day -- things don't work out the way you expected. There are interruptions; you need to react to things that happen, and, you need to say 'no' to things you thought...