Ashland Inc. Names Sinclair Communications Manager, Europe

COVINGTON, Ky., June 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) announces that Kimberlee A. Sinclair has been named communications manager for Europe, a new role based at the company's European Shared Business Services (ESBS) center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, effective August 1.

 

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The announcement was made by Martha C. Johnson, vice president, Communications and Corporate Affairs, Ashland Inc., to whom she will continue to report. Additionally, Sinclair will also report to Peter H. Rijneveldshoek, who has oversight for functions of the ESBS center. As announced recently, starting August 1, Rijneveldshoek adds new responsibilities as senior vice president for Ashland Specialty Chemical's global Thermoset Resins businesses.

Sinclair will work closely with Rijneveldshoek, leader of Ashland's European Business Council, to develop and implement strategies to communicate corporate and Chemical Sector initiatives to European internal and external audiences. Additionally, she will join the ESBS leadership team and become a member of the Council.

"From her earlier experience in Ashland, Kimberlee possesses a vital understanding of Ashland business strategies, goals and values. I am delighted about creating a partnership with her and our management team, as she applies her skills and abilities to help us effectively integrate and strengthen our communications activities across Europe," said Rijneveldshoek. "A further benefit to us will be Kimberlee's involvement with Ashland's Process Management Office to communicate to European audiences our progress with corporate process initiatives and GlobalOne, our companywide enterprise resource planning project."

Johnson noted that Sinclair will retain her role as process manager for Ashland's global communications channels, with supervision of printed publications, employee intranets and public-facing websites.

"Kimberlee's move to Europe is a sign of the strength of our Communications and Corporate Affairs group and the important value she can add to Ashland's growing international business presence," Johnson said. "But it also demonstrates that Ashland is continuing to learn to manage and leverage resources in ever-changing ways by instilling processes that reach throughout our company. I want to congratulate Kimberlee, and I have every confidence that she will fulfill our communications objectives in this important new role."

Sinclair joined Ashland in December 2001 as senior communications specialist and was soon promoted to manager of corporate communications with responsibilities for executive and financial communications as well as employee publications and other corporate communication channels. She began her career as assistant director of communications for Boston University International Programs, moving on to become manager of field marketing with BIGWORDS.com, then marketing manager with Bluespring Software, Inc. (Cincinnati, Ohio).

She earned a master's degree in marketing communications from Boston University in 1996, following a bachelor's degree in politics and sociology from Mount Holyoke College.

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 http://www.ashland.com .

SOURCE  Ashland Inc.
    -0-                             06/15/2005
    /CONTACT:  Media Relations, Jim Vitak of Ashland Inc., +1-614-790-3715,
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    (ASH)
CO:  Ashland Inc.
ST:  Kentucky, Netherlands
IN:  OIL CHM
SU:  PER
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3391 06/15/2005 09:48 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:
Statements in this press release regarding Ashland's business which are not historical
facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a
discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from
those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's
Annual Report or Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year.