Stanley K. Cheng

Stanley Cheng (1947 - ) is the CEO of Meyer Corporation and Director of Meyer Manufacturing Co. Ltd., he is considered an innovator of cookware design and engineering with his development of the Circulon and Anolon brands of cookware, which married nonstick surfaces to hard-anodized aluminum. Born 1947 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 join his family's aluminum rolling mill, using its outputs to create a new business manufacturing and selling cookware. He released 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 high-end nonstick cookware and in 1984 unveiled Circulon, the first line of hard-anodized, nonstick cookware on the market.

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 and hard-anodized aluminum substrate 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 products 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 became involved in the winemaking business. Hestan Vineyards is a combination of his and his wife, Helen's, names.