Contributor Profile - Wells Corbin

S. Wellford Corbin

S. Wellford Corbin, a former General Electric Vice President, was an early leader of The Schenectady Foundation - there at the start when there was little in the way of financial resources. As Chairman of the Foundation's Distribution Committee he was involved in overseeing the distribution of funds to the community, and was a ready contributor to help the Foundation make grants. Wells and his wife, Dorothy, were extremely involved in their community, and had a strong knowledge of its needs. This led Wells to establish a trust which now provides income to The Schenectady Foundation - more than $175,000 per year.

"Wells" was born in Philadelphia in 1909 and grew up in Schenectady. He attended Brown School and Schenectady High School, and graduated from Union College in 1930 with a degree in electrical engineering. He died on April 4, 1988.

Wells joined GE in 1930 as a student engineer and was named vice president and general manager of the Industrial Sales Division in 1963. He also served as a consultant at GE's industrial group until retiring in 1973. While serving as Industry Sales Division general manager he was responsible for the development of slaes of GE electrical products and large automation systems.

A winner of the Charles P. Steinmetz Honor as an undergraduate, Corbin served on Union College's Trustee Board of Advisors.

Wells was survived by his wife, Dorothy, who was one of the first female sulky drivers to receive her license at Saratoga Raceway. Her horse, broke a world record at Saratoga in 1959. She died on January 9, 1996.