Thomas Bates Appointed President, Evonik Industries North America Region  

Industry Veteran Brings Three Decades Of International Management Experience  

PARSIPPANY, N.J., April 8, 2008 ─ Thomas Bates, vice president and site manager of Evonik Degussa Corporation’s Mobile, Ala., facility, has been appointed president, Evonik Industries North America region and President of Evonik Degussa Corporation.  

Bates will assume his new responsibilities in addition to his current duties as Mobile site manager.  He will remain based in Mobile.  

Evonik has about 4,000 employees in 57 locations throughout North America.  The industry group has 33 manufacturing sites ─ 28 in the US and five in Canada and 24 offices/labs/warehouses/distribution centers.  

“I am both honored and excited about the opportunity to be Evonik Industries North American regional president,” said Bates. “Evonik’s well-known strengths are creativity, specialization, continuous self-renewal, and reliability. Here in North America, we have passionate and dedicated employees who continue to build the Evonik brand.”   

Under Bates’ leadership, Evonik’s operations in Mobile have expanded. The company is building two new plants – a multimillion dollar ROHACELL® rigid polymethacrylimide foam production facility and a 60,000 metric ton alkoxide production plant – at the site.  

Bates joined Degussa Corporation, now renamed and part of Evonik, in 1998 as Director of Manufacturing of the company's Silicas and Chemical Catalysts Division in North America.  

Three years later, he was named Director of Global Production, Functional Silanes for the Aerosil & Silanes business unit in Rheinfelden, Germany.    

In 2002, Bates was appointed Vice President and Site Manager of the Mobile facility. A graduate of Northeastern University with a degree in chemical engineering, Bates serves on numerous boards in Alabama, including the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, The Forum, Chemical Council of Manufacture Alabama and the Engineering College of University of South Alabama, The Gulf Coast Exploreum, and the WHIL Executive Committee.

With 600 employees, the Evonik Degussa Corporation Mobile site is Evonik Industries North America’s largest plant with 12 production facilities, warehouses for finished products, and laboratories.  Among the products produced at the site are hydrogen peroxide ─ used as a bleaching agent in the paper and pulp industries; Aerosil fumed silica ─ used in more than 250 products; and CHEM-TRETE silanes ─ a sealant for concrete, masonry and other building products.    

Company information
Evonik Industries is the creative industrial group from Germany which operates in three business areas: Chemicals, Energy and Real Estate. Evonik is a global leader in specialty chemicals, an expert in power generation from hard coal and renewable energies, and one of the largest private residential real estate companies in Germany. Our strengths are creativity, specialization, continuous self-renewal, and reliability. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In its fiscal year 2007 about 43,000 employees generated sales of about €14.4 billion and an operating profit (EBIT) of more than €1.3 billion (preliminary figures).

Disclaimer
In so far as forecasts or expectations are expressed in this press release or where our statements concern the future, these forecasts, expectations or statements may involve known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results or developments may vary, depending on changes in the operating environment. Neither Evonik Industries AG nor its group companies assume an obligation to update the forecasts, expectations or statements contained in this release.