Alanson B. Houghton | |
---|---|
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom | |
In office April 27, 1925 – March 28, 1929 |
|
Monarch | George V |
President |
Calvin Coolidge Herbert Hoover |
Prime Minister | Stanley Baldwin |
Preceded by | Frank B. Kellogg |
Succeeded by | Charles G. Dawes |
United States Ambassador to Germany | |
In office April 22, 1922 – February 21, 1925 |
|
President |
Warren G. Harding Calvin Coolidge |
Preceded by | Ellis Loring Dresel (as Chargé d'Affaires) |
Succeeded by | Jacob Gould Schurman |
U.S. Representative, New York 37th District | |
In office March 4, 1919 – February 28, 1922 |
|
Preceded by | Harry H. Pratt |
Succeeded by | Lewis Henry |
Personal details | |
Born |
Alanson Bigelow Houghton October 10, 1863 Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts |
Died | September 15, 1941 Dartmouth, Dartmouth, Massachusetts |
(aged 77)
Political party | Republican |
Children | Amory Houghton |
Residence | Corning, Steuben County, New York |
Alanson Bigelow Houghton (October 10, 1863 – September 15, 1941) was an American businessman, politician, and diplomat who served as a Congressman and Ambassador. He was a member of the Republican Party.
Alanson B. Houghton was born on October 10, 1863 in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. His father, Amory Houghton, Jr. (1837–1909), would later be President of the Corning Glass Works, the company founded by Alanson's grandfather Amory Houghton, Sr. in 1851.
In 1868, his family moved to Corning, New York. He attended the Corning Free Academy in Corning and St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. Houghton graduated from Harvard University in 1886 and then pursued postgraduate courses in Europe. He attended graduate school in Göttingen, Berlin, and Paris until 1889.
Upon his return to Corning in 1889, Houghton began work for his family’s business, Corning Glass Works. He served as Vice President of the company from 1902 to 1910, and as the company’s president from 1910 to 1918. Under Houghton’s leadership, the company tripled in size to become one of the largest producers of glass products in the United States. The company manufactured 40% of incandescent light bulbs and 75% of the railway signal glass used in the U.S.
Houghton’s interest in and promotion of education, particularly in western New York state, led to his being appointed a trustee of Hobart College in 1917.