PEOPLE: Ex-Celanese CFO named to Compass Board

In other personnel moves, Dunn also picked as president of Great Lakes Chemical unit, BioLab; and a former board chairman who died Dec. 13 is honored by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California: SEE BELOW.

Premdas appointed to Compass Minerals Board
OVERLAND PARK, KN, Dec. 15, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Perry W. Premdas has been named to the board of directors of Compass Minerals International Inc., filling the board's only vacancy. He'll serve on the board's audit and compensation committees.

Premdas was formerly the chief financial officer of Celanese AG and a member of its board of management. Celanese is a worldwide leader in the production of chemical products, acetate products, technical polymers and performance products. Premdas has also served as CFO of Centeon LLC and of Hoechst Celanese. He's a graduate of Brown University and received an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Based in the Kansas City area, Compass is the second-leading salt producer in North America and the largest in the United Kingdom. The company operates nine production facilities, including the largest rock salt mine in the world in Goderich, Ontario, Canada. Its product lines include salt for highway deicing, consumer deicing, water conditioning, consumer and industrial food preparation, agriculture and industrial applications. In addition, Compass is North America's leading producer of sulfate of potash, which is used in the production of specialty fertilizers for high-value crops and turf.

Great Lakes Chemical names Dunn president of BioLab
INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 14, 2004 (PRNewswire-FirstCall) -- Great Lakes Chemical Corp. appointed Kevin M. Dunn as president and CEO of Great Lakes' subsidiary BioLab Inc. and corporate executive vice president of specialty products, effective Jan. 4.

Dunn most recently was president of Playtex Products Inc.'s Consumer Products Division where, since 2000, he managed multiple businesses and brands including Banana Boat sun and skin care, Woolite rug and upholstery cleaners, Ogilvie home permanents, and Binaca breath fresheners.

Dunn succeeds Larry Bloom who will take on the newly created role of executive vice president and chief strategy officer for the company's specialty products business. Bloom joined BioLab in 1970, then a small family business, immediately after graduating from Georgia Tech with a degree in chemical engineering. He was named president and chief operating officer in 1987 and in 1999 was promoted to CEO of BioLab and named a corporate officer of Great Lakes.

"This opens an exciting new chapter in the ongoing business evolution for Great Lakes," said CEO John J. Gallagher III. "With Kevin's 30 years of extensive experience in consumer packaged goods, and with the benefit of Larry's wealth of experience and insight into recreational water treatment, Great Lakes is well positioned to continue growing our portfolio of brands and expand our position in consumer products."

Dunn has a proven track record in new product development, profit enhancement, strategic analysis, and corporate development. A veteran in the consumer products industry, he has managed a variety of highly respected and well-known brands in household cleaning, personal care, food products, fabric/laundry care, and pharmaceuticals. As senior vice president and general manager of Reckitt & Colman Inc.'s Household Products Division he focused on the division's investment strategy and generating improved market share and earnings growth for such respected brands as Lysol, d-Con, Spray 'n Wash and Resolve. Prior to this role, he held senior management positions with Sterling Winthrop Inc. and L&F Products, both subsidiaries of Eastman Kodak.

Dunn received his bachelor's degree in accounting from New York University and an MBA in marketing from St. John's University.

Commenting on Larry Bloom's appointment as chief strategy officer for specialty products, Gallagher said, "He has grown our specialty products business from $75 million into a $650 million business and has been instrumental in setting and implementing our current consumer products strategy, which includes our entry into the household cleaning products market."

Great Lakes diversified its specialty products holdings, which includes pool and spa treatment products, with the 2003 acquisition of The Works, Greased Lightning and Orange Blast brands of specialty household cleaners.

Great Lakes Chemical (www.greatlakes.com) is the world's leading producer of certain specialty chemicals for such applications as water treatment, household cleaners, flame retardants, polymer stabilizers, fire suppressants, and performance products.

MWDSC Board memorializes former chairman and longtime director
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 14, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) The board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California today adjourned in memory of E. Thornton Ibbetson, who previously served as its chairman and a longtime director representing Carson-based Central Basin Municipal Water District.

Ibbetson, 81, of Long Beach died Dec. 13 after a long battle with cancer.

In 2001, MWDSC dedicated the E. Thornton Ibbetson Guest Quarters in his honor at the Gene, Calif., field headquarters for the Colorado River Aqueduct. Among his many accomplishments, Ibbetson was active in Colorado River issues and represented the agency on the state's Colorado River Board.

"Southern California has lost a dedicated public servant and a wonderful human being," said Metropolitan Chairman Phillip J. Pace, who is one of Central Basin MWD's current directors on the Metropolitan Board. "Ibby served Southern California's water interest for nearly four decades, and our region is the better for his contributions."

Pace directed that the Metropolitan flag be lowered in Ibbetson's memory at the nearly two dozen district locations throughout the district's 5,200-square-mile Southern California service region, and at facilities along the 220-mile length of the Colorado River Aqueduct.

Ibbetson, known as "Ibby," represented Central Basin on Metropolitan's board from 1958 to 1998, serving as board chairman from 1983 to 1987. During the 1960s Ibbetson helped lay the groundwork for construction of the State Water Project, which today is a primary source of imported water for the Southland.

Born in Los Angeles on April 17, 1923, Ibbetson attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, Long Beach City College, and the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Ibbetson served in the U.S. Navy from 1942-1946, and then embarked on his business career. He became president and director of the Union Development Co., Inc.; Union Development Financial, Inc.; and Union Development Company of Hawaii, Inc. He also was a vice president of Valley Pproperties, Inc., and a partner in Ibbetson-Marsh Realtors.

He was a director of the National Association of Realtors, serving on the executive committee from 1980 to 1983, and was a treasurer and honorary president of the California Association of Realtors. He was president of the American Society of Real Estate Counselors for 1977 and was chairman of the Bellflower Water Development Committee.

Ibbetson also served as president of the Bellflower Kiwanis Club in 1958, Rancho Los Cerritos Board of Realtors in 1962, and was named Outstanding Young Man of the Year for 1958 by the Bellflower Junior Chamber of Commerce.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving 18 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.

###