DeVivo Named Vice President, Water Technologies International, Ashland Specialty Chemical

COVINGTON, Ky., June 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Paul DeVivo has been named vice president for Ashland Specialty Chemical's Water Technologies International businesses, effective August 1. The announcement was made by Len R. Gelosa, senior vice president, Water Technologies, Ashland Specialty Chemical, Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH), to whom DeVivo will report. DeVivo remains general manager of Drew Marine.

 

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In his new role, DeVivo will be responsible for leveraging growth opportunities across the Water Technologies businesses (Drew Industrial and Drew Marine) in Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. DeVivo most recently served as vice president, Ashland Specialty Chemical, and general manager, Drew Marine.

"Water Technologies' international markets are targeted for accelerated growth," said Gelosa. "Paul's 35 years of global business management experience will help to spearhead that growth. Paul is also an acknowledged Ashland thought leader in recognizing the value and power of common, standardized business processes. Opportunities for greater operational synergies between Drew Industrial and Drew Marine will be enhanced under his leadership."

Reporting to DeVivo will be his current Drew Marine management team, along with Mario Swinnen, vice president, European Region, Drew Industrial; and Larry Hale, vice president, Asia-Pacific, Drew Industrial.

DeVivo will continue to serve as leader of the China Management Services (CMS) center in Shanghai, with plans to expand the center to support all of Asia. In this role, DeVivo will report to Gary A. Cappeline, president and chief operating officer of the Chemical Sector of Ashland Inc. "Paul has also played a pivotal role in building the foundation for integration of our Chemical Sector operations in Asia. The CMS center provides finance, information technology, human resources, communications, legal and environmental, health and safety support to all Chemical Sector divisions in Asia," added Cappeline.

DeVivo's career at Ashland began in 1995 as regional vice president for Drew Marine, North and South America. In 1996, he was named vice president of operations for Drew Marine. In 1998, DeVivo was named general manager of Drew Marine and vice president of Ashland Specialty Chemical.

A native of Rockaway, New Jersey, DeVivo served as an engineering officer in the U.S. Merchant Marine. He earned a bachelor's degree in marine engineering from the United States Merchant Marine Academy and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Miami, Florida. He also is a graduate of Indiana University's executive development program.

Ashland Specialty Chemical, a division of Ashland Inc., is a leading, worldwide supplier of specialty chemicals serving industries including adhesives, automotive, composites, metal casting, merchant marine, paint, paper, plastics, watercraft and water treatment. Visit www.ashspec.com to learn more about these operations.

Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) is a Fortune 500 transportation construction, chemicals and petroleum company providing products, services and customer solutions throughout the world. To learn more about Ashland, visit www.ashland.com.

SOURCE  Ashland Inc.
    -0-                             06/10/2005
    /CONTACT:  Media Relations, Jim Vitak of Ashland Inc., +1-614-790-3715, or
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                http://www.ashspec.com /
    (ASH)
CO:  Ashland Inc.; Ashland Specialty Chemical; Drew Industrial; Drew Marine
ST:  Kentucky
IN:  OIL CHM
SU:  PER ASI
JT-JK
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1585 06/10/2005 10:18 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com

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