Polan Industries

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An inspector carefully examines a lens at Polan Industries.

File photo | The Herald-Dispatch

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Dr. Lincoln M. Polan, a glass technologist credited with 200
patents, was born in 1909 and educated at Huntington
High School, Marshall University, New York
 University and the Ohio State University.

Polan developed processes and advanced technical items in glass manufacturing,
 optics and infrared technology. In 1934, he established the Zenith Optical Co.,
 which later became Polan Industries. Under his guidance and using his
 technical expertise, the company would become an important
 player in the nation’s defense industry, producing
 gunsights, periscopes and other optical devices.

During World War II, the Army and Navy
presented Polan Industries five “E for
 Excellence” awards. At its peak, the
Huntington company employed
more than 2,000 workers.

The company continued operating into the 1960s, but its employment
 of 200 workers was only a fraction of its war-time workforce.
 In 1969, the company was sold to a California concern,
 which then resold it to a New York firm.
 The company closed in 1972.

It reopened in 1985, with Polan coming
out of retirement to head it, but filed
for bankruptcy in 1987.

Lincoln Polan died in 1999.

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Note:  This Article and picture appeared in the Herald-Dispatch Newspaper on Apr. 18, 2023.

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