Dow Chemical Donates $1.18 million to LSU Engineering

Baton Rouge, Louisiana - October 07, 2007

Efforts to construct a new Chemical Engineering building at LSU will gain a significant boost with a $1.18 million pledge to the LSU Foundation from Dow Chemical Company. $1 million of Dow’s overall pledge will go toward the construction of a process control laboratory in the new building for the Cain Department of Chemical Engineering. The pledge announced this afternoon will be Dow Chemical’s largest donation to LSU’s College of Engineering to date.

Also included in Dow’s gift to LSU is $180,000 to establish the Dow Chemical Distinguished Professorship in Engineering Diversity. This is the first professorship that will be used to recruit and retain women and minority faculty in the LSU College of Engineering.

"The College of Engineering and Dow Chemical have enjoyed a strong relationship over many years,” said LSU Dean of Engineering Zaki Bassiouni. “We are honored that Dow has chosen to contribute to two of the College's top priorities - a new Chemical Engineering Building and our Diversity Initiative - for philanthropic investment. Dow shows its leadership in being the first million dollar corporate donor to the College's Forever LSU campaign. We salute Dow and the LSU alumni it employs, and hope that this sets an example for others to follow."

Dow Louisiana Operations Site Director Sharon Cole said, “The future of Dow and the chemical industry are dependent upon universities like LSU producing well-trained engineers. To attract and train the top students LSU needs the proper resources, so I’m proud that Dow can be a part of that effort through this contribution. Certainly my career at Dow would not have been possible without my Engineering degree from LSU, so it’s especially meaningful for me to see Dow supporting this outstanding program at the university.”

David Mongrue, Dow Executive for Louisiana State University & Manufacturing Director for Specialty Chemicals, said, "Louisiana State University is one of only 15 Dow Strategic Universities in the U.S. The Dow Chemical Company and LSU have enjoyed a long-standing relationship that has benefited both parties. As an LSU Alumnus who has worked for more than 20 years on university relations with LSU, I am extremely pleased and proud to present this significant contribution to LSU on behalf of the Dow Chemical Company. We know this contribution represents an important investment in the future of our strategic relationship with LSU and furthers an already strong partnership with the university.”

Dow is a diversified chemical company that offers a broad range of products and services to customers in more than 175 countries. Dow has annual sales of $49 billion and employs 43,000 people worldwide.

The Forever LSU campaign is LSU’s largest fundraising effort in its history. So far, LSU has raised more than $350 million of its $750 million goal by the year 2010. To find out how you can get involved with supporting the Forever LSU campaign, visit www.foreverlsu.org .

Scott Madere is the Director of Public Relations for the LSU Foundation. For more information on this donation or the Forever LSU campaign, contact Scott at 225-578-3826 or e-mail him at smadere@lsufoundation.org.

About Dow

For Editorial Information:

Gary Cambre
The Dow Chemical Company
(225) 353-8265