Name Stanley Cheng | ||
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Education University of Oregon, Oregon State University | ||
Organizations founded Meyer Corporation | ||
Circulon - Confidence through Quality
Stanley K. Cheng is the CEO of Meyer Corporation and Director of Meyer Manufacturing Co. Ltd., he is considered an innovator of cookware design with his development of the Circulon and Anolon lines of cookware which married non-stick surfaces to hard-anodized aluminum with the patented "hi-low flavor release system" used with the Circulon line. Born 1948 in Hong Kong he is one of seven children. He attended the University of Oregon majoring in business but switched to engineering. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Oregon State University in 1971. He returned to Hong Kong in 1971 to take over the family aluminum manufacturing plant and converted it to cookware, releasing his first line in London, England in 1972. Distribution centers in Liverpool, England and Milwaukee, Wisconsin followed in 1976 and 1980, respectively. In the 1980s he converted his factory to the production of nonstick cookware and in 1984 unveiled Circulon, the first line of hard-anodized, nonstick cookware on the market.
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When Circulon was introduced, the nonstick system was so unique in extending the durability of nonstick cookware that it was granted a patent. The unique Circulon Hi-Low surface made the pans at least three times more abrasion-resistant than any other nonstick cookware on the market. Anolon followed in 1986 as the first hard-anodized nonstick with a smooth cooking surface (and heavier-gauge aluminum than Circulon). Unfortunately, Cheng did not patent the hard-anodized nonstick process, which allowed competitors to develop similar products. He still develops unique technologies and pans for Meyer, including Infinite Circulon's impact-bonded base and the Anolon Outdoor BBQ Pan, respectively. Cheng won the Humanitarian of the Year award from the Housewares Charity Foundation in 2002.
In 1992, Cheng moved his family and main office of Meyer Corporation to Vallejo, California. Meyer Manufacturing is still based in Hong Kong. After his purchase of an 80-acre (320,000 m2) vineyard in Napa Valley, he has become involved in winemaking. Hestan Vineyards is a combination of his and his wife, Helen's, names.