Committees at a Glance

Brendan Cummins, former chief executive officer of Ciba Specialty Chemicals, was elected to the Ashland board in May 2012. Mr. Cummins, 61, brings nearly 40 years of industry leadership experience to this new role. He spent 37 years with Ciba, holding a variety of international and senior management roles within the company. These roles included 20 years spent in the Asia Pacific region in finance and business unit leadership assignments. He served as chief operating officer from October 2005 through January 2008, when he was promoted to CEO. Ciba was acquired by BASF in late 2008. Since 2010, Mr. Cummins has served as a consultant to, and on the senior executive panel of, The Valence Group, a specialist mergers and acquisitions firm offering advisory services to companies and investors in the chemical, materials and related sectors.

Stephen Kirk, 63, was elected to the Ashland board in November 2013 and serves on the Audit and Governance and Nominating committees. Mr. Kirk brings 40 years of global chemical industry experience to Ashland's board. He served as chief operating officer of Lubrizol from 2008 until his retirement in late 2011 following the company's acquisition by Berkshire Hathaway. Prior to that, Mr. Kirk served as corporate senior vice president and president of Lubrizol Additives, from 2004 to 2008. From 1996 through 2004, he held senior roles in sales and marketing. Mr. Kirk currently serves as Executive in Residence at the Monte Ahuja College of Business at Cleveland State University and as chairman of the Cleveland State University Foundation Board and a member of the Cleveland State University board of trustees.

Vada Manager, 51, became a member of Ashland's board of directors in 2008 and serves on the Audit and Personnel & Compensation committees.

Mr. Manager is the chief executive officer of Manager Global Consulting Group. A senior director/senior counselor of APCO Worldwide, Mr. Manager joined the Washington, D.C., office of the public affairs and strategic communications consultancy in 2010. Previously, he was an independent global consultant. From 1997 to 2009, Mr. Manager held various management roles with Nike Inc., culminating with the position of senior director of global issues management from 2006 to 2009. Before joining Nike, he performed a similar role at Levi Strauss & Co. and was also a vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based public affairs firm Powell Tate, a part of Weber Shandwick.

Barry Perry, 66, joined Ashland's board of directors in 2007. He is lead independent director ,chair of the Personnel & Compensation Committee and a member of the Governance & Nominating and Personnel & Compensation committees.

Mr. Perry served as chairman and chief executive officer of Engelhard Corp. from 2001 to 2006. Prior to this, he held various management positions with Engelhard beginning in 1993. He was a group vice president with Rhone-Poulenc from 1991 to 1993. Mr. Perry also held a number of executive positions during his 22 years with General Electric Co. He is also a director of Albemarle Corp. and Arrow Electronics Inc.

George Schaefer, 67, has been a director of Ashland since 2003 and serves as chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Personnel & Compensation Committee.

Mr. Schaefer retired as chairman of the board of Fifth Third Bancorp in 2008, having previously served Fifth Third as chief executive officer, president and chief operating officer during his tenure. He is a director of Wellpoint Inc. He also serves as a member of the board of trustees of the University of Cincinnati Healthcare System.

John Turner, 70, joined Ashland's board of directors in 2006. He is chair of the Governance & Nominating Committee and serves on the Environmental, Health, Safety & Product Compliance Committee.

Mr. Turner served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Oceans and International and Scientific Affairs from 2001 to 2005. Previously, he was president and chief executive officer of The Conservation Fund. He also served in the Wyoming state legislature for 19 years and is a past president of the Wyoming State Senate. He currently serves as a director of Peabody Energy Co., International Paper Co. and American Electric Power Co. Inc. He is a managing partner of Triangle X Ranch in Wyoming, chairman of the Ruckelshaus Institute of Environmental Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming, and a senior associate of The Conservation Fund.  Mr. Turner is chairman of the Ruckelshaus Institute of Environmental Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming and senior associate of The Conservation Fund. He is a member of the advisory boards of Grand Teton National Park Foundation, the National Museum of Wildlife Art, the Jackson Hole Historical Society and The Raptor Center.