Ashland Inc. Promotes Hausrath to Senior Vice President, General Counsel

COVINGTON, Ky., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- David L. Hausrath, Ashland Inc. vice president and general counsel, has been promoted to the title of senior vice president and general counsel, announced James J. O'Brien, Ashland Inc. chairman and chief executive officer. The promotion is effective immediately. In addition, upon the retirement this spring of Richard P. Thomas, vice president and secretary, Hausrath will add the additional title of secretary.

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Hausrath oversees Ashland's law and records management functions. He joined Ashland's Law Department in 1980 and has held a number of positions within the department. He was named vice president in 1998 and general counsel in 1999, at which time he joined Ashland's executive committee.

He is a member of the American Corporate Counsel Association, American Bar Association, American Society of Corporate Secretaries, Kentucky Bar Association and the Virginia State Bar. He serves on the Board of Visitors of the Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University. He is also a member of the Council of Chief Legal Officers of The Conference Board and serves on the Planning Committee of the Metropolitan Growth Alliance.

Hausrath received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1974 from Virginia Tech. From 1974 to 1976, he was employed by DuPont in Richmond, Va., as a project engineer. He received his J.D. degree in 1979 from the University of Richmond Law School. After graduation, he served as a law clerk for the Virginia Supreme Court.

Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) is a Fortune 500 transportation construction, chemicals and petroleum company providing products, services and customer solutions throughout the world. Through the dedication of our employees, we are "The Who In How Things Work^™." Find us at www.ashland.com .

^™ Trademark, Ashland Inc.

SOURCE Ashland Inc.

"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.